Janitors, Contractors Close to Agreement on Wages

Striking janitors and contractors were a nickel away from a deal Thursday evening after a tense day of ultimatums and phone conferences.

The dispute came down to the first year’s raise for janitors in outlying areas, which include Pasadena, Glendale, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Contractors had agreed to an increase of 25 cents per hour, while the janitors union insisted on at least 30 cents.

“I finally got the real sense of what nickel and dime-ing means,” said Neal Sacharow of the County Federation of Labor, who had been involved in a day of frantic calls that pulled in Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg.

Janitors working in heavily unionized downtown Los Angeles and Century City would fare better under the proposal, gaining a 70-cent raise the first year of the three-year contract. In each of the following years, all unionized janitors would see their wages increase by 60 cents.

Even for downtown janitors, however, the deal falls far short of the $1 hourly, annual raise over three years that they originally sought. And there is no guarantee that, after three weeks of marches, rallies and encouragement from such national political figures as Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the members will accept the latest offer.

A rejection could escalate tensions, which already are running high, and embarrass a number of local political leaders who have publicly aligned themselves with the janitors’ cause.

Dick Davis, the chief negotiator for the janitorial firms involved in the Los Angeles master contract, said the companies had made their final offer. He noted that outlying areas had just absorbed a large increase in January, when they added health insurance for janitors, amounting to about $2 per hour.

“We think it’s a fair offer,” Davis said. “The next move is up to the union. Everything’s been discussed 25 times; there’s nothing to talk about now.”

Hundreds of janitors gathered at Olympic Park on Tuesday evening for a rally and march to the ritzy shops of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Chanting, drumming and whistling, they appeared as boisterous as during the first days of the nearly 3-week-old strike.

But several were clearly distressed on hearing the current proposal. “The union told everybody they’d accept a dollar,” said Consuela Hernandez, 52, who cleans an office building in El Segundo for $6.80 per hour. “We had three weeks to work hard for more money. If the union did accept [30 cents], people would feel sad.”

About 8,500 Los Angeles janitors are represented by Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, cleaning about 75% of the county’s prime office space. Those working downtown and in Century City now earn $7.80 per hour, while in outlying areas they earn $6.80 per hour.

They voted to strike April 3 after rejecting an offer that would have raised wages by 80 cents to $1.30 over three years.

After two long nights of negotiations, Davis presented what he said was the contractors’ final offer about midnight Wednesday. He warned that contractors would hire permanent replacements Monday if the janitors turned it down.

But that deal called for only a 20-cent raise for outlying area janitors, while the union had hoped for 40 cents. The ultimatum set off a frenzy of telephone conferences, and owners and managers of many major buildings, including Trizec-Hahn, Arden Realty, Paramount Studios and DreamWorks SKG, agreed in writing to support a compromise of 30 cents.

Times staff writer Indraneel Sur contributed to this story.