Clean fight for corporate coin

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by Noemi Lopinto

Three lonely figures brave the rain and pace the pavement in front of Concordia University's Loyola Campus bearing soggy picket signs as part of a city-wide maintenance workers' strike. The strike began on May 28 at midnight and Sam, Victor and René claim they will empty nary a wastebasket until their demands are met.

Sam, who has been a maintenance worker for four years, says he can't wait to see the university's bathrooms after a week wihout their services. "Our last salary increase was 25 cents--five years ago," he says. Sanitation and maintenance workers have been without a contract since September 2000, with negotiations dragging on for the past 13 months.

Employees of 15 sanitation companies including GSF Sanibec, Distinction Maintenance Services and Empire Maintenance perform cleaning services for corporate and business offices all over Montreal. Union representative for the FDQ, Claude St-Marseille, says the last offer by the sanitation companies was a salary increase of 25 cents a year over a five-year period. "This is unacceptable. These are mostly women and immigrants doing heavy work, nights and weekends," says St-Marseille. "They are a very poor sector of the working population. We want three-year contracts, a yearly salary increase of 75 cents, and payment for working after-hours." St-Marseille was hoping for an end to negotiations by last Friday. Company representatives were unwilling to comment.