Taking a Stand at Standard Insurance
For over 20 years, Standard Insurance Center and Standard Plaza have invested in a responsible union janitorial company to keeps their offices clean. Janitors in the buildings had good jobs, earned fair wages and had access to affordable healthcare. In July, Standard made the decision to switch to Millennium Building Services, a non-union contractor marked “Red,” the lowest possible rating, on ResponsibleContractorGuide.net.
Millennium workers have been speaking out about working conditions since 2017. Workers report extreme exploitation, unfair wages and unaffordable health insurance. Millennium is known for using a subcontractor model, where they may further subcontract janitorial services to dubious “independent contractors” — sometimes without the knowledge of the building managers.
Janitors and community members demonstrated outside Standard Insurance Center on Friday, June 14, calling on Standard to reverse their decision before it came into effect. In July, the lives of overnight janitors were upended as a result of the decision by Standard’s Building Manager Larry Hatton. Without protections for their jobs, wages, and benefits, when a building manager decides to change janitorial contractors, janitors are often left scrambling for a new job, sometimes after working decades in the same position.
Supporters are contacting The Standard and asking Larry Hatton at larry.hatton@standard.com to invest in good jobs in our community by canceling their contract with MBS and choosing a responsible union contractor to clean for the evening shift.
