Detroit Janitors Demand 'Family Sustaining' $15 Per Hour Wage

DETROIT (WWJ) - How much should janitors be paid? Some in metro Detroit believe $15 an hour sounds right.

Among those demanding raises is 57-year-old Pamela Owens, who works cleaning downtown office buildings, and sits on the board Service Employees International Union Local 1.

"Everybody needs $15...we need $15," Owens told WWJ City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas.

At a "Justice for Janitors Day" rally on Wednesday, Owens said PIC Maintenance — Cadillac Tower's cleaning contractor — is declaring non-union employees to be independent contractors, replacing union workers with those making "low wages."

According to SEIU Local 1, the average janitor in downtown Detroit is paid around $24,000 a year and many receive public assistance. The janitors' goal is to move towards a higher wage for all in the Detroit market over the life of the contract, and in doing so to allow workers to better participate in and contribute to Detroit's redevelopment and the community at large.

Detroit City Council President Pro Tempore George Cushingberry Junior is among those pushing for a $15 wage to create "family sustaining janitorial jobs."

"I came over here today to stand with the SEIU Local 1," Cushingberry said at a news conference held near Campus Martius. "We're just asking the owners (of Cadillac Tower) to reconsider their anti-union attitude in the home of organized labor."

Wednesday's event in Detroit was part of the wider "Fight for 15" movement in which janitors, security officers, fast food workers and others are demanding what they say is a fair and living wage.

What would Owens say to those who believe $15 an hour is too much for janitorial work?

"Too much? You know, that's sad. You know what I say to them? Your family eats, too. You gotta pay your light and gas bill, too," Owens said.

"When we make them low wages, when we get them gas bills, they don't say, 'Oh, Pamela Owens makes low wages, we're gonna lower her bills.' No! I gotta pay! Why do people think janitors shouldn't have a fair share?"

The current contract for janitors who work for the city and represented by SEIU Local 1 expires July 3.  WWJ has a call out to PIC Maintenance for comment.