Bee-Clean Union
Bee-Clean Janitors in Lower Mainland Make Huge Gains!
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Over the last three years, Bee-Clean workers have been unionizing with SEIU Local 2 and fighting hard to win ground-breaking improvements at their workplace. By coming together and winning a strong first contract for Bee-Clean workers in British Columbia, they have created a pathway to make it easier for you and other Bee-Clean workers to unionize and enjoy these same benefits.
It’s never too late to start making improvements at your workplace. See below some of the key gains workers have made and reach out to an organizer today to know how you can win these same benefits!
Watch the video below to see what Bee-Clean workers have to say about their fight and collective achievements.
Learn how you can have these same benefits!
These are some of the most significant improvements Bee-Clean janitors won through collective bargaining:
- Guaranteed wage increases every year that keep workers significantly above the minimum wage
- Pay premiums for lead hands, project workers and graveyard shifts
- Guarantees that workers getting paid rates at or higher than those on the pay grid will also get raises every year and never suffer a reduction in pay.
- Health and Welfare Benefits that include medical, dental, vision care, short-term disability and more!
- Additional Paid Stat Holiday – Boxing day
- Paid Personal/Sick Days – 3 paid days off per year that can be used for personal emergencies, illness, or non-emergency related absences. Plus another 2 paid sick days that workers won after successfully lobbying the BC government to implement more paid sick days in January 2022.
- Better Vacation Pay & Leave of Absence for up to 3 months that can be combined with vacation and protects seniority and the job when a worker returns
- Paid Bereavement Leave – 3 paid days for immediate family, 1 day for in-laws
- Job Security – Grievance Procedure and Protection against unjust terminations or disciplines and any potential contract changes in the future
- Job Vacancy, Lay-off & Recall rights that will protect the seniority of workers for 1 year if there is layoff and give current workers priority to new job postings
- Strong language on Health & Safety, Discrimination & Harassment
Background
Bee-Clean is one of Canada’s largest and fastest growing cleaning contractors, yet hundreds of non-unionized workers continue to work with no health benefits, low wages, and no job security.
In response to these poor working conditions, Bee-Clean workers across B.C.’s Lower Mainland began organizing in late 2019 with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2’s Justice for Janitors campaign.
In September 2019, Bee-Clean janitors at two Oxford Properties sites in Vancouver (401 West Georgia and 355 Burrard Street) voted to unionize so they could win job security and better working conditions for their families. Bee-clean subsequently attempted to displace almost all of the newly unionized workforce, arguing that the new successorship provisions instituted in May 2019 by the BC provincial government should not apply to this group of workers.
The BC Labour Relations Board held an expediated hearing on this matter and ruled that Bee-Clean is the successor contractor. This meant that the janitors’ jobs were protected and that they would have the opportunity to negotiate much-needed work and safety improvements.
Shortly thereafter, in October 2019, another Oxford Properties site (1055 West Hastings) also voted to join the Union. The newly unionized workers began negotiations in December 2019 for a first collective agreement with the goal of establishing decent working standards for Bee-Clean workers across the province.
As bargaining continued throughout 2020, more and more Bee-Clean workers continued to unionize with SEIU Local 2 and joined the fight for better wages, health and safety, and job security.
In November 2020, workers successfully ratified a first collective agreement for over 150 Bee-Clean workers across the city. Together, these Bee-Clean workers not only won ground-breaking improvements for themselves and their families but have also created a pathway for non-union Bee-Clean workers to unionize and enjoy these same benefits right away!
By sticking together and fighting for a strong first Collective Agreement, janitors working for Bee-Clean Building Maintenance in British Columbia have made it easier for workers to unionize and enjoy these same benefits!
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Janitors set major legal precedent over successorship
Janitors at risk of losing their jobs win a crucial decision at the BC Labour Relations Board, retaining their jobs with the successor contractor.