Philippine Showbiz Today
July 8 - 21, 2017
Jan. 22-Feb.7, 2015
7
Cleaners at Capilano University win their union and join SEIU’s
Justice for Janitors movement
when that decision is made.”
Meanwhile, Best’s Legal Counsel
filed an application of Reconsideration
with the Labour Board in its continued
attempt to delay the process further.
In li ght of SEIU Local 2 organizing
efforts targeting Best Service Pros
cleaners at postsecondary institutions
under CLAC, it is expected that Best will
put up many impediments at negotiations
to prevent workers from receiving a fair
contract.
Capilano University cleaners won the right to choose their union.
Cleaners employed at Capilano
University won their right to join SEIU
Local 2 and its Justice for Janitors
campaign earlier this June.
SEIU stands for the Service
Employees International Union, the
largest and fastest growing union in
North America, with 100,000 workers in
Canada and two million workers across
Canada, the United States and Puerto
Rico.
SEIU’s Justice for Janitors is
a movement of workers that has
successfully organized to improve wages,
benefits, and job security for over 7,000
janitors across Canada. SEIU’s goal is
to organize all janitors in BC, in order to
raise industry standards.
The BC Labour Board ordered
ballots cast by 27 out of 29 cleaners on
February 20, 2017 to be unsealed.
The union vote was won by an
overwhelming majority despite an anti-
union fear campaign waged by the boss
during the 10 days before the vote.
“This is an important victory,” says
Cherish Lazo who is a member of the
newly formed Bargaining Committee.
“The wait was extremely frustrating, but
now, all we can think of, is starting to
make improvements at work.”
Best Service Pros, the contractor
that represents cleaners at Capilano
University and other postsecondary
institutions, put up numerous legal
objections at the Labour Board to
prevent workers from joining SEIU Local
2, the most significant objection being
the proliferation of bargaining units.
SEIU Local 2 legal counsel was
successful in arguing that the proliferation
of bargaining units could not apply in this
case because Best Service Pros entered
into a Voluntary Recognition Agreement
(VRA) with CLAC as recently as 2016,
despite having bargaining relationships
with two other unions.
In June 2016, Best Service Pros,
upon learning they were awarded the
cleaning contract at Langara College,
contacted CLAC. Best and CLAC
negotiated a 10 year agreement with
minimal wage increases and no benefits
before any worker was hired and later
presented the contract to the newly
employed cleaners at Langara College.
This contract was extended to
workers at BCIT in November of 2016 at
an Orientation meeting and in March of
2017 at Vancouver Community College,
after Best Service Pros became aware
that SEIU Local 2 were actively organizing
Best cleaners across the city.
Meanwhile, as workers at Capilano
University waited for a decision from the
Labour Board, they remained active and
steadfast in their wishes to form a union.
In April, the workers delivered a petition
to their boss signed by 25 cleaners
asking Best Service Pros to drop their
legal objections at the Labour Board and
allow the ballots to be counted.
The delivery of the cleaner’s petition
was done in conjunction with letters of
support from other unions on campus.
MoveUp and CUPE Local 1004 sent
letters to Capilano University President,
Paul Dangerfield, urging the university
to leverage Best Service Pros to drop its
legal challenges and respect the worker’s
choice to join SEIU Local 2.
“We want to join the Justice for
Janitors movement so together, we can
negotiate for livable wages and a benefit
plan,” said Mcjusto Soberano, a cleaner
at Capilano University. “We work very
hard and our work should be respected
and valued. Without us, the campus
would be dirty and students would not
be able to come to classes,” added
Soberano.
Best Service Pros responded to the
workers’ petition saying “The Labour
Board must decide whether the SEIU
Application is consistent with [these]
rules and regulations … Unfortunately,
BEST has no control over the timing of
“We are asking that unions and
student groups on campus stand with us
during this process,” says Delia Tanza,
another member of the Bargaining
Committee. “Without your support, we
will be forced to accept an agreement
like CLAC and our union will not be a
strong one.”
For more information, please visit
www.justiceforjanitors.ca ●