Janitors who have survived rape and sexual harassment in the workplace on Monday launched a 100-mile walk from San Francisco to Sacramento to urge Gov. Jerry Brown to support legislation to boost sexual harassment and violent training and prevention measures.

Assembly Bill 2079, introduced by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, includes provisions for peer training and counseling, which supporters say is essential for helping immigrant women and women in hidden professions like janitorial work learn their rights from someone they trust.

The walk, which began at the Golden Gate Bridge this morning and paused for a noon rally at San Francisco’s City Hall, began the same day as a billboard campaign in the Bay Area urging Brown to sign the legislation.

More at source: SF Examiner

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3. They can keep you from getting sick

If nothing else, you should be wearing gloves to protect yourself against bacteria while cleaning.

Think about the places you clean regularly -- the bathroom sink, the toilet, the kitchen sink. All three are places that are just teeming with bacteria. Oh and that sponge you use to clean the dishes? It's one of the most germ ridden thing in your home.

Clean those places with bare hands and you run the risk of directly infecting yourself with nasty pathogens.

More at source: CNET

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GREENWOOD, N.S. - The union representing Canada’s federal public sector employees is worried that a plan to privatize cleaning services at two air force bases signals a concerning trend.

Colleen Coffey, Atlantic Canada executive vice-president with PSAC, says seven term-contract, unionized cleaners at 14 Wing Greenwood were recently notified that as of Sept. 30 their jobs would be terminated before their term positions could have rolled into full-time jobs.

Instead, the government plans to contract out their jobs to a private company. The remaining 25 full-time cleaners will not be laid off but will have their positions replaced by contractors when they retire or leave the base. At Ontario’s CFB Kingston, there will be no immediate layoffs but the 186 unionized cleaners there will also eventually be replaced by contractors.

More at source: Kingston County News Canada

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The man worked for Bee-Clean Building Maintenance, which provides janitorial service across the country.

“We are deeply saddened by what happened and our thoughts, prayers and support, are with the deceased worker’s family at this difficult time. We are working closely with the regulatory authorities to determine the cause of what appears at this time, to be a tragic accident,” Rob Scott, executive vice president of Bee-Clean Building Maintenance, said in a statement.

“We are also supporting all our team members within our Bee-Clean family, and we have provided grief counselling to all our team, as well as engaged in open dialogue to help us all come to terms with this loss.”

It’s not known how the man died. OHS said it is continuing to investigate, so no further details were provided.

More at source: CISN

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The five companies, who’ve banded together as the Business Partners Alliance, want the court to block Aramark and another company, the Atlanta-based Carter Brothers, from terminating their old operating contract and seeking proposals from competitors. They filed the litigation Friday.

More at source: Advocate

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When you lather up your locks in the shower, or blast the mucky kitchen bench with antibacterial spray, the chemicals in those common household products eventually make their way down the drain and into the environment.

Pretty much everything washed down household drains in Australia goes to a wastewater treatment plant where most particles and chemicals are removed or diluted, and then the water is discharged into our waterways.

However, these days the treatment processes are insufficient to deal with the influx of chemical cocktails, especially the chemicals that last for a very long time, according to chemical engineer Peter Scales from the University of Melbourne.

Some of the chemicals in everyday products that can hurt the environment include plasticisers, surfactants, antibacterial agents, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phosphates and fragrances.

More at source: ABC

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Beyond price and service, should companies care about the janitorial service they hire? With provisions of the California Property Service Workers Protection Act taking effect on July 1, 2018, and the Labor Commissioner recently fining Cheesecake Factory and its janitorial service $4.5 million for wage theft, it’s time to revisit how janitorial services are hired.

A provision of the Property Service Workers Protection Act that took effect on July 1, 2018, requires companies providing janitorial services to annually register with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Registration requires that the janitorial service meet certain conditions. Janitorial services that fail to register are subject to stiff civil fines. But it gets worse.

Under California Labor Code section 1432(b), any person or entity that contracts with a janitorial employer lacking a current and valid registration can be fined between $2,000 and $10,000 for the first violation, and between $10,000 and $25,000 for a subsequent violation.

More at source: JDSUPRA

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Unionized janitors say they have ratified a new four-year contract with janitorial service companies that would increase their minimum wage to $15 in three years, averting a strike.

About 40 Service Employees International Union Local 1 members gathered at Spirit Plaza in downtown Detroit on Tuesday to announce the results of contract negotiations that began June 20. The new contract calls to raise the base wage for about 1,700 current employees from less than $10 an hour to $15 in the third year. 

More at source: Crains Detroit

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