Houston has never been a hotbed of organized labor. But for more than a decade, the Service Employees International Union has been locked in a fierce battle with a commercial cleaning company in Houston.

The union, which came to town more than a decade ago as part of its Justice for Janitors campaign, has been trying to get Professional Janitorial Service of Houston to recognize the union as the bargaining agent for its 1,400 janitors through a public card check process that bypasses secret ballot elections that employers typically prefer.

Along the way, there have been many loud rallies, a giant inflatable rat, dueling labor board allegations of illegal labor practices and a defamation lawsuit.

The latest salvo? The company has accused the union of trying to trash its reputation by providing what it believes to be forged signatures of PJS employees asking its customers to stop doing business with the cleaning company.

More info at source: Houston Chronicle

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Anthony Lepore, John Rife, and Brian Domalik are charged with bribing Patrick Johnson, a Loganville resident, in exchange for favorable treatment by Jackson on contracts between their company and the two government entities.

“These defendants are charged with circumventing the government contracting process by bribing a corrupt public official who was willing to put his own interests above those of the taxpayers he served,” U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release. “This indictment reaches to the very top suites of the company, charging complicity in the bribery at the highest levels.”

According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court included:

Anthony Lepore was the President and CEO of Rite Way Services, Inc., an Alabama based company that sought to do business with DeKalb and GWCC. Rife was the regional vice president, and Domalik, who came to work for the company in 2010, was the division manager, both working out of the Norcross, Ga., facility.

More at source: Georgia Patch

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BUFFALO, NY - The owner of a cleaning business in Hamburg will not spend any time in jail for welfare fraud. A judge sentenced Rhonda Heinen, 40, of Springville, to five years probation, plus 1,000 hours of community service.

More at source: WGRZ

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WeWork, a New York start-up valued at $10 billion with the mission “to create a world where people work to make a life, not just a living,” is seeking to put a contentious labor dispute behind it.

On Tuesday, WeWork, which offers temporary office space with perks like arcade games, showers and coffee bars to entrepreneurs and big businesses alike, said it would now use unionized contractors to provide janitorial services for its locations in New York and Boston.

The agreement comes after months of protests from former WeWork cleaners, who were paid as little as $10 an hour through a nonunion contractor, Commercial Building Maintenance.

More at source: NY Times

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Cigarette butts and chewing gum are being blitzed from streets by South Holland District Council’s powerful new cleaning machine.

As part of its Pride in South Holland campaign to clean up unloved sites in the district the council has obtained a Glutton vacuuming machine.

The potent machine is highly effective at cleaning up cigarette butts, drinks bottles and chewing gum from pavements.

It is electric and runs silently, using a lengthy vacuuming nozzle to clear hard-to-reach pavement cracks and kerbsides.

The council’s street sweeping team will be using the Glutton machine to clean streets and pavements on a daily basis.

More at source: Spalding UK

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An afternoon explosion in the small town of Allen, Neb. is leaving the community shaken up Thursday evening. Crews on the scene say a flash fire from a chemical explosion sent two people to the hospital.

 

Investigators say two elderly people were just cleaning the bathroom inside Allen's former Village Inn, soon to be a new bar and restaurants when an explosion ripped through the room, sending both people to the hospital.

 

"You never think in a small town like this it's going to happen, I mean what is there to explode?" said Connie Roberts, a teacher in Allen, Neb.

 

But around 5 p.m. Thursday, an explosion at the former Village Inn rocked the small community of Allen, all from two people inside, cleaning.

 

"Cleaning in the bathroom with chemicals, which caused the explosion," said Sara Kumm, Allen, NE EMT Rescue Captain.

 

Allen Fire Chief Rod Strivens says an elderly man and woman inside quickly extinguished the flames from the flash fire caused by the explosion. Officials say there was minimal damage to the building, but the explosion sent both to the hospital. One person was taken to the hospital via life flight.

 

"You just try to do whatever you can to help the guy as soon as you can," said Rod Strivens, Allen, NE Fire Chief.

More at source: ABC

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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — If you have kids, experts say “buyers beware” of purchasing certain types of cleaning products, especially ones that children may think are their favorite food or drink.

Dr. Mowry is a poison control specialist at Indiana University Health Methodist. He said their office in Indianapolis receives at least 2,000 calls of concern a year. Parents are usually on the other end of the phone wondering what to do if their child ingests an alcohol-based product.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry by calling our toll-free number when in doubt,” said Dr. Mowry.

Steve Price, a seasoned child care veteran of 32 years, agrees. Price overlooks more than 150 kids at Kidscape Childcare and Learning Center. Their roster is full with infants and children up to age 12.

Price said he’s watched sanitation products go into the wrong hands. He recommends keeping them completely out of reach from children to avoid disaster.

“I’ve seen them lick their hands, rub their eye and then scream in pain,” said Steve Price with Kidscape Childcare and Learning Center.

This unfortunately happens one too many times according to Dr. Mowry, who often monitors the Poison Control Hotline.

More at source: Wish TV

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Cleaning robot becomes a one-time investment for individuals exploring cost-effective cleaning services. Further, with technological improvements in vacuum cleaners; highly advanced, small-sized, and efficient cleaning appliances are being developed. These robots can easily fit into limited spaces compared to traditional robots.

The emergence of futuristic robotics is supporting the innovation of smaller but technologically advanced and cheaper cleaning robots. Therefore, the development of small-sized cleaning robots serves to be a significant driving factor for the growth of this market.

The Cleaning Robot Market has been segmented into various verticals- residential, commercial, industrial, and healthcare, among others. The others category includes verticals such as small business units and contract service providers. The residential vertical segment led the global cleaning robot market in 2014, and accounted for a share of 59.4%.

In 2014, the floor cleaning robot segment held the largest share of 59.8% of the market for the residential vertical.

The research study is aimed at identifying emerging trends and opportunities in the global cleaning robot market along with detailed classifications, and size in terms of value and volume. It provides a comprehensive competitive landscape and identifies the key players with respect to market size and market share.

The research study also includes a detailed segmentation of the global cleaning robot market on the basis of products, verticals, and geography.

Apart from the market segmentation, this report also uses the Porter's five forces, which provides an in-depth analysis of the market providing a detailed process flow diagram and market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities in the cleaning robot market.

More at source: PRNews 

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A New York company says it has a two-year extension of its contract to clean the Superdome and nearby arena after events including football and basketball games.

ABM Industries Inc. spokesman Chas Strong says the company is not releasing the dollar value of the extension with SMG, the company which manages both venues.

More at source: Washington Times

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Spring gets all the credit as the season for cleaning. After being cooped up for months, the ritual makes sense. But fall cleaning can be just as important as spring cleaning. Take some time to tidy your home and your finances so you can enter winter with a fresh space and fresh mind. Here are some tips to help guide your fall cleaning below.

Ditch the Clutter

Summer can be a busy time and even if you went through your home in the spring, you might have accumulated more things you don’t need. This can also be a good time to re-evaluate summer items that you didn’t use all summer long. If you plan to just store them for another year, it might be time to get rid of them.

It’s a good idea to evaluate what you have and separate them into categories. There are the items you want to keep, those you want to sell, those you want to give away or donate and those you want to throw away.

Try doing an exchange with friends if you are looking for new-to-you items to replace the ones you are getting rid of. You could host a garage sale if you have enough stuff and you are looking to make some money. There may even be less competition for buyers than in the spring.

You could also turn to online sales sites like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook and others. For the items you’ve designated to donate, or those that don’t sell, you can look to a local church or community center, the Salvation Army or Goodwill. It turns out your fall cleaning can even help you make a profit or receive tax breaks.

More At Source: Blog Credit

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