• (UV) sterilization wands – Wands from Purelight are used to sterilize "high touch points" in the hotel such as telephones, clocks, light switches, door handles, bathroom fixtures and common areas.

• UV inspection black lights – These black lights are used as part of the housekeeper inspection process to detect any biological matter, food particles, and more, that the human eye cannot see.

More at  source: Sacramento Bee

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, unions representing over two hundred thousand working men and women throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties are expected to pledge their support for San Diego’s United Service Workers West janitors in the event of a strike. A vote to sanction the strike would mean honoring the picket line if building owners and their contractors do not reach an agreement with the janitors’ union by June 2, 2012

More at source: OBRag

More than a hundred janitors and union supporters blocked an intersection of Capitol Mall on Thursday as they marched and chanted to prevent what they called an erosion of their health care benefits.

"We're fighting for medical coverage. We don't want to lose that," said Araceli Quezda, a mother of three who said she makes $11 an hour cleaning offices in the Arden Arcade area and pays $150 a month for health insurance.

More at source: The Modesto Bee

The woman said that her supervisor made sexual comments and advances for months before raping her in a second-floor office in 2004.

She said she complained to the company, was told not to say anything about it and later fired.

ABM said in a statement it disagreed with the verdict.

The woman's name was not used because Associated Press does not identify rape victims.

More at source: Associated Press

BAY MINETTE, Alabama -- School board members voted Thursday to rescind a contract with a Pensacola company hired to do custodial work at Foley High earlier this year when the company raised its price by some $50,000.

"We had 2 companies who submitted bids in response to our request for proposals," Baldwin County Superintendent Alan Lee said. "Southern Management won that RFP, but then requested revisions that would add $40,000 or $50,000 to the original estimate. That is just not feasible."

More at source; AL Blog

While the state of Michigan was facing a $1.5 billion deficit in 2009, the Ortonville-Brandon Public School Board of Education signed a four-year deal with its custodians and maintenance people that would pay for 90 percent of their health care premiums.

The family plan for the luxurious MESSA health plan cost $17,171 in 2010 or about $2,000 less than what it could have cost the district to pay the salary of a new custodian.

More at source: MCC

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

W.W. Grainger Inc.'s (GWW) April daily sales rose 12% from a year earlier as acquisitions continued to boost sales volume.

The supplier of industrial goods ranging from lighting to janitorial products has experienced double-digit percentage earnings growth in recent quarters, aided by growing demand from businesses and institutions trying to consolidate suppliers. The company is often considered a bellwether of the U.S. economy because of the breadth of its offerings. Grainger has also expanded its global footprint through acquisitions.

Acquisition gains added 5 percentage point to last month's sales growth. Excluding acquisitions, sales rose 7%, with 5 percentage points of the increase due to volume and 3 points due to higher prices, partly offset by a 1-percentage-point decline from foreign exchange.

More at source: Wall Street Journal  

Janitorial franchise Coverall is receiving a $3 million bill from a Massachusetts court this week in a lawsuit other franchisors are watching closely. At the heart of the case is a controversy over whether some franchise owners aren’t franchisees at all, but rather employees who’ve had to pay fees for the right to have their job.

The court ruled last fall that the Boca Raton, Fla.-based franchisor must pay back the franchise fees over 100 people undefined mostly new immigrants undefined paid the company, plus interest and lawsuit costs. The court’s opinion? Privately held Coverall misclassified its employees as franchisees, so their fees should be refunded.

More at source: Forbes

ABM Janitorial Services-Northeast filed the suit in New York state Supreme Court today, accusing the law firm of failing to pay about $299,000 for janitorial and related cleaning services at its offices at 1301 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan through April 30. ABM Industries is based in New York.

More at source: Bloomberg

SINGAPORE undefined Eight Indonesian maids have fallen to their deaths from high-rise apartments in Singapore this year, and the Indonesia Embassy said Tuesday it is pushing for a ban on cleaning outside windows.

Indonesia, which supplies about half of Singapore’s 200,000 maids, has asked employment agencies to include a clause in work contracts that prohibits maids from cleaning the outside of windows or hanging laundry from high-rise apartments, Indonesian Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono told the Associated Press.

(Brings A New Meaning To I Don`t Do Windows)

More at source: Washington Post