Baltimore office cleaners get pay raise in new deal with landlords, averting a strike

Days before their union’s contract was set to expire, office cleaners in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., struck a deal with building landlords, averting a threatened strike. The four-year deal includes an increase of at least $3.55 in hourly wages for the 9,100 workers in the region, according to a news release from Service Employees International Union 32BJ. The pay increase will be implemented over the course of the contract, the release said, as cleaners now earn between $12.50 and $18.60. There are about 500 office cleaners in Baltimore represented by the union.