Hundreds of King County union janitors who maintain commercial real estate gathered Friday afternoon in downtown Seattle to push for better pay and protection of medical benefits as their contract draws to an end on June 30.
The average janitor salary in King County is less than $45,000, according to a statement from Service Employees International Union 6, the union representing nearly 4,000 janitors in the county. Salaries haven’t kept up with the Seattle-area rising costs of living, forcing many janitors to take second and third jobs to make ends meet, said the statement.
Janitors were considered essential workers during the pandemic, and they marched in downtown Seattle on Friday with banners reading “Janitors are always essential.”
They are also asking for full family employer-paid health insurance.
“We need to fight cuts to our medical insurance because that keeps us whole. If we get sick, we can still keep our families afloat,” Anthony Simpson, SEIU6 shop steward and janitorial foreman, said in a statement.
At the beginning of the march Friday, the union announced the results of a vote to strike. SEIU6 janitors voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if necessary to win a good contract, said SEIU6 President Zenia Javalera in a statement.
“This gives our negotiations team a green light to push as hard as we can at the bargaining table, because we know that janitors are ready to put it all on the line,” Javalera said.
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