OWEGO, N.Y. -- Lockheed Martin will lay off 40 employees from its janitorial and cafeteria staff, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Those services will be contracted out starting on July 21.

Company officials said its a cost-saving move for the company that has happened at other Lockheed facilities.

A spokesperson said workers who are let go may have a chance to land a job with the vendors that will be servicing the campus.

More at source: Binghampton

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Two janitorial companies, NLP Janitorial and Coast to Coast West, were slapped with more than $1.5 million in citations by the California Labor Commissioner for allegedly engaging in multiple wage violations, including failure to provide rest or meal breaks, or pay minimum wage or overtime wages, and misclassifying 52 workers as independent contractors. In a news release, Labor Commissioner Julie Su said, “There is a high cost to unfair competition, and these 52 workers bore the brunt of it when their earned wages were stolen from them. Honest janitorial employers struggling to compete against scofflaws also pay.” The two janitorial companies compete for cleaning services to hotels, resorts, theater chains and restaurants.

A still photo taken from a video clip of Topless Maid truck parked on Sierra Madre Boulevard, near Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. For weeks, a pink truck advertising topless maids for $99 has been parked at various locations on Fair Oaks Avenue in South Pasadena and in Pasadena. South Pasadena has been inundated with complaints, some of which say the service is really another way to move prostitution into the city's limits. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News) 

A Melbourne cleaning company has been forced to repay more than $50,000 to its staff after an investigation by the federal workplace watchdog.

It was revealed that 16 employees were short-changed payments of up to $8700 during the 12 months to September last year.

Jorgensen Property Services, which operates in Melbourne's north-western suburbs, had been paying its workers a flat hourly rate that did not comply the award, the Fair Work Ombudsman has found.

The company's staff of 14 casual and two part-time workers were not receiving the minimum rate of pay, penalty rates for weekends and public holidays or overtime.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the cleaning industry employed many young people and migrant workers, who could be vulnerable if they were not fully aware of their workplace rights.

Fair Work inspectors began auditing up to 1000 cleaning contractors across Australia from July last year, checking compliance with minimum hourly rates and penalty rates.

Lawmakers and union officials on Thursday voiced concerns about the MBTA’s plans to cut nearly 30 percent of its janitorial workforce.

Contracts awarded by the MBTA Board to SJ Services and American Building Maintenance call for a cut of 29 percent, or 90 workers, of the cleaning staff starting on Sept. 1, 2014, according to SEIU 32BJ, a union backing the workers.

Members of the remaining workforce, which currently numbers 300, could also have their hours cut.

“I want to say shame on [the state Department of Transportation] and shame on the administration that would balance the budget on the backs” of the lowest paid workers in the state, said Sen. Ken Donnelly (D-Arlington).

Transportation Secretary Rich Davey told the News Service in April that the contracts have performance-based standards, instead of staffing-based standards, for cleanliness, and he expected the companies to use more advanced cleaning techniques to meet the standards. Staff reductions are allowed in the contracts.

More at source: DOTNEWS

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 In reality, a new government analysis shows that you're more likely to get sick from the highly contagious gut bug in a far less exotic locale: at a local restaurant, spread by the (unwashed) hands of a food service worker.

CDC

This transmission electron micrograph, or TEM, shows some of the structures of norovirus particles. It takes only a miniscule does of norovirus to make people sick, which is which the nasty bug is now the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S., health officials said.

Workers who fail to properly wash hands or use gloves and the 1 in 5 who come to work sick with diarrhea and vomiting every year help make norovirus the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S., according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More at source: NBC

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Do we really need dimethyl imidazolidinedione, whatever that is, to clean our showers?

Yes, that’s a real product ingredient. But we can do most cleaning at home just fine without using products made from questionable chemicals with unpronounceable names.

Alternatives include vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda or simply water for basic cleaning of surfaces such as windows or floors. But what about those really tough cleaning jobs?

Let’s get down and dirty by answering some common questions about green household cleaning, especially for the most challenging tasks.

Q: What’s wrong with using chemical products for tough cleaning chores?

A: Possibly nothing, if you’re sure they are the best products for the job and you handle them properly. But don’t use chemical products indiscriminately.

More at source; Seattle Times

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No Pay For Overtime

Late at night, long after the grocery superstore Fred Meyer closes, there is still activity in the store. If you look through the windows, janitors are cleaning. But are they employees? Not officially. On paper, they're contractors.

Since 2004, Fred Meyer's janitors have signed their names to documents stating that they're independent contractors. They're not paid hourly. A local janitorial services company pays them a lump sum of around $1,000 every two weeks to work seven nights a week, 364 days a year. Were those janitors actual employees instead of contractors, fair labor laws would entitle them to a minimum wage and overtime pay. They are currently not paid overtime.

More at source: KUOW.org

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The drug’s cooks are now finding their ways into hotels that any family might choose for road trips or weekends at various lake communities in the area.

As the two young men moved about the building cleaning, it was hard to tell that they have special challenges in their lives.

Concentrating on their movements as they followed their cleaning routines, the two seemed like very polished workers – and in fact, they are.

One folded dirty cleaning towels into triangles and placed them together as he moved from one chore to another while cleaning a restroom. He sprayed cleaner on the mirror in the same pattern, wiping the mirror in the same motion each time. Both avoided eye contact and spoke very little.

Each has been diagnosed with autism (also known known as autism spectrum disorder). The severity of the disorder is different for each person, but the life situation of a person with autism is often misunderstood.

Those with autism do not naturally develop the ability to interact socially and, therefore, struggle with things like job interviews and conversations.

More at source: Charlotte Observer

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