But for too many working people that economic vitality isn't translating into good jobs with living wages. The city is one of the poorest in the nation, with a poverty rate of 30.6 percent, according to 2010 US Census data. A 2011 study by the National Center for Children in Poverty found that 48 percent of children live below the poverty line — the third-worst child poverty rate in the country. According to SEIU Local 1, even though unemployment is on the decline in the city, poverty and racial segregation are on the rise.
That's why the current negotiations for a new contract between Cincinnati janitors and cleaning contractors are worth paying attention to. The talks began back in September, but have received little media coverage due to the 2012 election. About 1,000 janitors and their families are directly affected by this contract, and low-wage workers throughout the city who are looking for better pay and benefits are affected indirectly.
The average full-time janitor currently makes just $17,836 annually cleaning the offices of these multibillion-dollar companies. Not only is that below the poverty line of $18,106 for a family of three, it's also just over half the estimated annual cost of living in the city — $33,347 for a one-parent, one-child family to pay for basic necessities.
The Cincinnati janitors' work is grueling. According to SEIU, they clean more than 37.6 million square feet of office space every night. In addition to vacuuming, emptying trash, and sanitizing bathrooms and workspaces, the janitors maneuver heavy bags and equipment and use highly toxic cleaning chemicals — all at a high rate of speed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that janitorial work is one of America's more dangerous occupations, in terms of the rate of nonfatal injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work, and also the number of cases of musculoskeletal disorders associated with the work.
And yet, here is what most of the cleaning contractors are offering the janitors: a wage freeze for two years and a ten-cent increase in 2015.
However, the cleaning contractors ultimately will do whatever the powerful corporations that employ them want them to do. Case in point, Procter & Gamble did the right thing — stepping up and saying that the janitors who clean their downtown headquarters should be paid a living wage. The company uses Compass as its cleaning contractor, and Compass offered the janitors a $.30 increase in the first year, $.25 in the second year, and $.30 in the third year. The current $9.80 hourly wage would therefore rise to $10.65 in 2015, and the average salary would be $19,863. (Not enough, to be sure, but a step in the right direction.) Compass also guaranteed full-time hours and healthcare.
Later this week, I'll be talking to janitors and reporting on any developments in their negotiations. In the meantime, you can e-mail building owners in Cincinnati — companies like Macy's and Fifth Third Bancorp — and ask them to support good jobs for janitors.