A tentative agreement reached last week with the Maintenance Contractors of New England (MCNE) after a three-and-a-half-week strike (see WIT for Oct. 24, 2002), is coming under increasing fire from some Boston-area janitors represented by the 10,000 member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 254. Pointing out that part-time janitors need livable wages and decent benefits now, some rank-and-file members are saying that raises of $4.10 an hour over five years, and health benefits that do not include affordable dependent coverage and leave 8,000 part-time janitors without any coverage, is too little to settle for after what they have been through. Union officials have said that the disagreement is part of the democratic nature of unions and that the decision is up to the membership, but predicted that most members are pleased with the settlement and will vote in favor of it.
See KIMBERLY BLANTON and DAVID ABEL, The Boston Globe, October 29, 2002