President Obama's biggest organized labor booster, the Service Employee International Union (SEIU), has gone on strike against a janitorial company because of reduced employee hours. The company cited Obamacare as the culprit, cutting hours for some employees because of insurance costs.
Washington Examiner:
Members of the Chicago-based Service Employees International Union Local 1 have gone on strike over recent job cuts by a janitorial company called Professional Maintenance.

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- This season's flu vaccine is now available, and Americans should get their flu shot as soon as possible, an expert says.

"Contrary to some beliefs, getting the flu shot in September is a good thing and will offer protection for the entirety of the flu season," Dr. Stephen Russell, an associated professor in the general internal medicine division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a university news release.

More at source: Philly.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) undefined Members of a union representing nearly 1,000 commercial janitors in downtown Columbus are holding a series of strikes to protest alleged labor practice violations.

Service Employees International Union 1 says contract janitors who clean several prominent high-rises authorized their most recent action Tuesday, part of the city's first janitor strike.

The union alleges workers have been threatened and intimidated while seeking wage and health care concessions from four private commercial cleaning firms.

More at source: Review Online

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1. Waiting until the bag or dust cup is full to empty it - It's best to change it when it's no more than three-quarters full - or empty the dust cup after every two to three uses. This will keep your vacuum's suction strong and cleaning performance at its peak.

2. Cleaning with a dirty filter - You're not removing allergens as effectively if your filter is clogged with grime. You don't have to change the filter as often as the bag, but if the filter shows signs of wear, or is excessively dirty or torn, it's time to replace it.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected West Virginia University Research Corporation (WVURC) of Morgantown, W.Va., to provide operations and maintenance services at the agency's Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility in Fairmont, W.Va.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Patients at Children’s of Alabama waved and fist-bumped a few comic book heroes through the hospital’s windowpanes as the characters rappelled down the side of the 15-story building.

AL.com reports employees from Squeegee Cleaning Services of Chelsea dressed up as Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Captain America Tuesday and rappelled down the building to greet children on each floor.

More at source: Post  Courier

At the Monday meeting of the Gainesville Board of Education, members brought up concerns about the system’s recent partnership with Southern Management for janitorial services.

At more than $103,000 per month, the contract with Southern Management went into effect July 1 and lasts for one year, with a renewal option for two years. However, the city school system has been outsourcing its cleaning services for around 25 years.

“I think outsourcing is an option that everyone looks at, particularly in terms of (health) insurance costs, salaries and benefits,” said Gainesville Superintendent Merrianne Dyer.

Hall County also has been outsourcing cleaning services for some time, phasing out its in-house janitorial services over the past three or so years. The decision was made to not eliminate positions in one fell swoop, but to make the move to outsourcing as county employees left the system.

Now, janitorial services are outsourced at 24 Hall schools.

The county system has an annual contract with GCA Services Group for approximately $2.5 million, said Damon Gibbs, executive director of facilities.

“If we have a Hall County custodian, if you take their salary, benefits, all of the costs for our equipment, supplies, paper products, everything, it costs us about $2 a square foot,” Gibbs said. “We can outsource it for about $1.15 a square foot.”

More at source: Gainesville Times 

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The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $4.2 million contract for janitorial and maintenance services at Grand Coulee Dam to Taylor Enterprises LLC, a Grand Coulee firm. The contract is for a five-year period.

The work involves janitorial and maintenance services of several buildings and facilities at the Grand Coulee Project, the bid award press release stated.

The release said it was for five years, assuming satisfactory performance each year.

The work requires detailed attention to janitorial services to office buildings, tourist facilities, and various locations within the powerplants, switchyards and elevator towers.

Taylor Enterprises also has the contract to provide the same services at Chief Joseph, Little Goose and Lower Granite Dams.

Principals of the firm, Kay Taylor and son Wade Taylor, stated Monday that they have about 35 employees and expect 18 or 19 employees at Grand Coulee Dam.

Wade Taylor said that the firm plans to retain some of the employees currently providing the service at the Coulee Dam Project, now managed by two service firms out of Boise.

He couldn’t say how much lower the Taylor Enterprise bid on the work was compared to the next lower bidder.

“The Bureau has its own criteria for awarding bids,” Wade Taylor stated.

The firm takes over the janitorial and maintenance contract Oct. 1, just two short weeks away. The contract was awarded on Sept. 5.

Wade said that Taylor Enterprises is a family company, and that he and his mother plan to hire some relatives to assist in the new acquisition.

Taylor Enterprises LLC has had 17 federal contract awards since the year 2000, totaling just over $1.33 million. Four of the contract awards were made in 2012, totaling $337,000.

More at source: The Star

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Seventy local Aramark employees could be out of work if the company is unable to negotiate a new contract with the Avis Budget Group to provide services for the car-rental company’s central Ohio locations.

In a filing with the state’s Department of Job and Family Services, Philadelphia-based Aramark stated that “it would not be retained to provide transportation services at Avis Budget Columbus."

As a result, it will close its Columbus operations and terminate employees on Nov. 4.

However, Aramark is in negotiations with Avis Budget to continue to provide the services, which include servicing and cleaning vehicles and getting them ready for customers, said Aramark spokesman Dave Freireich.

More at source: Dispatch.com

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A Perth cleaning company has been smacked with a record-breaking $340,000 fine for underpaying six workers, with the judge saying the business had limited the ability of the Fair Work Ombudsman to investigate.

The employees, including five foreign workers, had been employed as cleaners and were underpaid a total of $22,510.

Housekeeping Pty Ltd was fined a total of $286,550 and the business’s manager, Catherine Paino-Povey, was penalised a further $57,310. The total fine of $343,860 was a record for the FWO.

Federal Circuit Court judge Toni Lucev found the underpayments had been deliberate.

“The penalty must be an appropriate level to deter others within the industry and other industries from committing similar breaches of Australian workplace law,” he said.

More at source: Smart Company

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