HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Jan. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As 300 GDI Integrated Facility Services workers prepare to strike, Bee Clean Building Maintenance has reached a tentative agreement with their employees’ Union, SEIU Local 2. Bee Clean is GDI’s main competitor in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
The tentative agreement is superior to GDI’s proposal in the way of wages, health benefits, workload protections, and language around the issue of favouritism and job security. A ratification vote for Bee Clean workers is being planned and will be announced in the coming days.
SEIU Local 2 had proposed joint bargaining between the union and both cleaning companies, but GDI refused to participate. Instead, the union has been carrying on parallel negotiations.
Cleaners across the city are seeking raises that keep up with the increased cost of living, improved access to health benefits, retirement security, and language that would protect them from unfair workloads and protect their jobs from being subcontracted out.
A final conciliation meeting is scheduled between GDI and SEIU Local 2 on Thursday January 23, 2025. If an agreement is not reached, workers could be on the picket line as soon as Monday of next week. If the strike proceeds, it will be the first large-scale janitorial strike in the private sector in the HRM.
For more information visit www.JusticeforJanitors.ca
SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. We are proud members of the largest, fastest growing, and most dynamic union in North America.
Tina Oh
toh@seiulocal2.ca
(902) 955-9966
