Janitors’ Victory Points Way Toward Good Jobs With Health Care For Indianapolis’ 

Families 

Historic city-wide contract for 1,500 will more than double the income of the 

average janitor, provide some relief for beleaguered Midwest

Indianapolis—As workers throughout the Midwest face ever-increasing economic 

pressures, Indianapolis janitors have won higher wages, more work hours, and 

health insurance in their first-ever city-wide union contract. The 

groundbreaking agreement will help lift more than a thousand janitors out of 

poverty, more than doubling the income of the average worker and increasing the 

income of the lowest-paid workers by an incredible 169% percent over the course 

of the contract—more than doubling the income of workers at the lowest end of 

the spectrum within the first 20 months alone. 

“Lately there has been nothing but bad news for workers here in the Midwest,” 

says Perla Garay, janitor at ABM. “But this contract has built a sense of hope 

for everybody in this city who has to work, pay bills, buy groceries, and go to the doctor.” 

The agreement comes on the heels of similar janitors’ victories reached in 

nearby Ohio cities Columbus and Cincinnati, cities that, like Indianapolis, have 

seen a sharp increase in service-sector employment. In all three cities janitors 

gained the support of hundreds of religious, elected, and community leaders and 

urged the region’s numerous Fortune 500 companies—who contract out for cleaning 

services and who combined take in more than $1 billion a day in revenues—to 

support good jobs with health care for the region’s working families, who are 

falling further and further behind as corporate CEOs receive record levels of 

compensation in the millions. 

The agreement, which was ratified by Indianapolis janitors today, provides the 

city’s janitors with victories on four key fronts:

• Higher Wages. Janitors with current wages as low as the Federal minimum wage 

of $5.85 an hour will earn at least $9.00 an hour by 2012. All workers will 

receive incremental increases of at least $1.50 over the course of the contract. 

• More Hours. The new contract will increase work hours for janitors currently 

provided with an average of only 4.5 hours of work a night to seven hours a 

shift in the first two years and eight months. 

The additional hours and the wage increase mean that the average office janitor 

will see their income rise by 103 percent over the course of the four-year 

contract. Workers who currently make $5.85 an hour and are given only 4 hours a 

night will see their income rise by a remarkable 169 percent overall—and more 

than double by the start of 2010.

• Quality, Affordable Health Insurance. At a time when many employers are 

shifting health care costs on to workers, Indianapolis janitors won individual 

health insurance at a cost of only $20 per month. The health insurance will 

become available starting January 1, 2011.

• Paid Holidays and Vacation Time. The contract will allow workers—many for the 

first time in their lives—paid time off from work. Janitors will receive six paid holidays per year and be able to take vacation time beginning the 

first year of the contract.

The janitors’ agreement with the area’s five largest cleaning companies— 

American Building Maintenance (ABM), Group Services France (GSF), Mitch Murch 

Maintenance Methods (4M), Somers Building Maintenance, and Bulldog—was reached 

after janitors waged a three year campaign. 

The increase in wages and health insurance will dramatically improve the lives 

of 1,500 Indianapolis janitors, many of whom had been earning as little as $26 a 

day without benefits. The increase in wages and hours will lift many families 

out of poverty, and provide janitors and their families with a steppingstone 

into the middle class while the health insurance will ensure workers have access 

to affordable health care. 

“There are still companies out there that don’t understand that better pay and 

health care are good for the whole city,” said Raquel Baca, janitor at GSF. “Now 

these companies should see that it is possible to work together to create a better future. Our victory gives me hope that more 

janitors will be able to join us so we can strengthen the gains we’ve already 

made.”

With 1.9 million members, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America.