Talks Seek to Avert S.F. Janitor Strike

Janitors and building managers met Friday with a federal mediator to try to reach an agreement before their contract expired at midnight.

Twenty downtown buildings, including Ghiradelli Square and Embarcadero Center, would be affected by the walkout by 300 members of Building Service Employees Union Local 87, who contract directly with the Building Owners and Managers Assn.

Local 87 voted last weekend to strike if the contract disputes can’t be resolved.

Support for their position has been announced by AFL-CIO and Teamsters unions, and the San Francisco-based International Longshoremen and Warehousemen’s Union.

‘Stick Together’

“It’s time to stick together,” said Walter Johnson, the new secretary-treasurer of the San Francisco Labor Council, in a recent union newsletter.

Under the current contract, janitors earn $10.55 an hour for a guaranteed 36-hour week with at least 10 vacation days each year.

Union agent Jean Quan said janitors are asking for cost-of-living raises for three years, an extra holiday on Martin Luther King’s birthday and no work-rule changes.

Building owners’ consultant Chet Kiel said management is bargaining for a $7-an-hour wage for new janitors, as well as cuts in vacation and benefits to reflect a drop in owners’ profits because of lower building occupancy rates.