Janitors, landscapers, and maintenance workers at Nova Southeastern University in Davie have voted to authorize a strike against Encompass, a cleaning contractor for the private university.
Union officials, in a statement released Friday night, said negotiations with Encompass have failed to reach an agreement. They said the union offered a 50 cent per hour raise. The current contract expires Monday.
“Fifty cents won’t even buy me a cortadito,” Brigitte Concepcion, an Encompass janitor, said in a statement from the union.
“I have to rent half of our two-bedroom home to three strangers just to keep up with the bills,” said Concepcion. “We don’t want to strike, but we will do what it takes to secure a better future for our families.”
The union, 32BJ SEIU, also wants Encompass to not seek out robots to replace workers, an issue the union says the company is exploring.
READ MORE: Unionized janitors, landscapers rally for better wages — against robots — at Nova Southeastern
“The men and women who keep Nova’s campuses running have spoken. They will no longer accept poverty wages while the cost of rent, food, and childcare keeps soaring,” said Helene O’Brien, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU. “A fair deal with living wages is the only path forward.”
The 32BJ SEIU represents about 250 janitors, landscapers and maintenance worker who clean NSU’s classrooms, bathrooms, and off-site facilities.
Workers, who first organized at NSU in 2013, said the cost of living in South Florida has skyrocketed in recent years and wages have not kept up. Starting pay, said union officials, is $15 per hour.
The vote to authorize a strike comes only days after 32BJ SEIU workers held a rally at NSU. Wearing “Justice for Janitors” shirts, they marched to the entrance of the private university's campus. They chanted Spanish, Creole, and English as passing cars honked in support.
Company officials with Encompass declined comment to WLRN. University officials did not respond to WLRN's request via email for comment.
