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Biden administration moves to protect Alaska wilderness; opening statements and first witness in NY trial; SCOTUS hears Starbucks case, with implications for unions on the line; rural North Carolina town gets pathway to home ownership.

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The Supreme Court weighs cities ability to manage a growing homelessness crisis, anti-Israeli protests spread to college campuses nationwide, and more states consider legislation to ban firearms at voting sites and ballot drop boxes.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

Janitors Join the Quest for $15 Wage

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Tuesday, November 10, 2015   

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. – Negotiations for a new work contract are underway between 1,400 commercial office cleaners and the owners of at least 170 buildings in the Philadelphia area.

The cleaners are part of the growing movement of workers demanding wages of at least $15 an hour. Daisy Cruz, area leader for the Mid-Atlantic District of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ, says it's part of a nationwide campaign.

"Our theme right now is 'Raise America,'" she says. "No family, no worker should be making wages that are poverty wages."

The current cleaning contract for the Philadelphia suburbs expires Dec. 15. Close to 135,000 SEIU janitors around the country will begin negotiating contracts over the next 15 months.

Many of the cleaners who began their negotiations last week work for some of the largest, and richest, pharmaceutical companies in the nation. According to Cruz, full-time janitors there make an average of $12.35 an hour, with health benefits.

"Pharmaceutical companies are doing very well, so it's a shame we even have to have this type of contract campaign," she says.

The union says raising base pay to $15 an hour will help workers support their families and their communities.

SEIU 32BJ is the largest property service workers union in the U.S., representing more than 120,000 workers.


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