Detroit schools would be on the hook for $28 million to settle a costly lawsuit with a janitorial services company.

The Detroit board of education  is  to take action Tuesday on a proposed settlement with Maryland-based Sodexo Management, which first filed a lawsuit against the district in 2014.

The company would be paid $28 million over two years, with the first payment of $16 million coming this month, according to background information prepared for the board for the meeting.

More at source: Detroit Free Press

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Higher wages would spur huge increase in Palo Alto's janitorial costs

Jose Elizalde, custodian assistant for the City of Palo Alto, heads out to empty trash and clean the facilities at Cubberley Community Center on Aug. 8, 2017. Elizalde, an hourly employee with the city of Palo Alto, also works part-time for the Palo Alto Unified School District. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Palo Alto's commitment to fair wages will face its first real test Monday night, when the City Council considers a new janitorial contract that will more than double the cost of keeping City Hall and other public buildings clean.

The proposed five-year contract with the firm SWA Services Group would cost the city about $1.9 million in the first year, which according to a Public Works Department report represents an increase of about $1.2 million in 2018 alone over the current provider. In subsequent years, the city would pay between $1.96 million and $2.15 million for the service.

More at source: Palo Alto Online

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We are excited when we add a new client, business, school, doctor’s office or manufacturer to our roster of clients. We know that we are helping that company to be its best. While talking to business owners, we often hear,

 “We do the cleaning ourselves” or, “The employees take turns doing the cleaning of the office.” We are often given “reasons” why companies do not need a professional janitorial service. I’d like to take a minute to look at the reasons why they should. It may seem financially beneficial to multitask and take care of the company’s cleaning needs in house, but there are many reasons to re-think this strategy, and determine whether is it actually helping in the long run. Here are some thoughts:

EXPERTISE – A professional janitorial company has trained individuals that understand the job. They know what to look for and how to take care of it. A good cleaning company has training programs and standards by which the cleaning staff must adhere. It has years of experience and knows what needs to be done to keep things in tip top shape.

More at source: Flagstaff Business News

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Today in ‘everything you touch is disgusting’ news, your kitchen sponge is so filth-ridden that you may want to just get up now, run to the kitchen, and toss it in the bin.

Each sponge was separated into its top and bottom parts with sterile instruments, and immediately frozen until the researchers could conduct DNA extraction and FISH staining.

The owners of the sponges were then asked if they regularly applied special measures to clean their sponge, such as heating it in the microwave or rinsing with hot, soapy water, and how frequently they changed their sponge

More at source: Metro UK

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HUNTSVILLE — For a third consecutive year, Scott County’s contract for janitorial supplies has created some contention.

This time around, County Commission reversed a previous stance of awarding the county’s janitorial bid to a local company despite its higher bid, causing representatives from that company to appear before commissioners Monday to make a plea that the bid be reconsidered.

County Commission last month followed the recommendation of the Scott County Finance Committee and awarded the bid for janitorial supplies to Ellison Supply, a LaFollette-based company that submitted the lowest bid for supplies for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. On Monday, representatives for Scott Janitorial, a local company with a parent office in Somerset, Ky., appeared before commissioners to request they reconsider the bid.

More at source: IHOnedia.com

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A VERSION OF THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON TEDIUM, A TWICE-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER THAT HUNTS FOR THE END OF THE LONG TAIL.

For centuries, the average home had windows, but not necessarily glass covering those windows—in part, because glass was really expensive at first, and the flat pane variety that we’re used to didn’t even exist.

But as glass evolved as part of the 20th-century home, it suddenly became important to keep those panes of glass clean. And that meant there was an opportunity for the Philip W. Drackett Company to come about and make it easy.

More at source: Atlas Obscura

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My wife is pregnant, and now I do not know where I will be when our baby is born. She and the baby are now in more danger because of the stress that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made for us. My mother is also sick. My daughters are not sleeping. They cry all the time and do not understand why I can’t be with them. I worry so much for them.

I was told that if I did what ICE said, I would not have to be in jail. I believed them. I came when they told me and did what they said, but they took me. I do not understand why I am here. 

More at source: Boston Globe

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Judge Loretta C. Biggs of the U.S. Middle District Court of North Carolina verbally approved a settlement providing $77,000 in back wages to 149 former employees of Integrity Facilities Management Inc. on Thursday.

Before IFM declared bankruptcy in 2014, the company was a subcontractor for SSC Service Solutions Inc, which provided janitorial services for the Durham Public Schools.

“I was very happy when I got the message,” Liliam Bustillo Cerrato said. “Very happy.”

Cerrato worked as a janitor at Fayetteville Street Elementary School, Rogers-Herr Middle School and Jordan High School between 2005 and 2014.

IFM janitors were cleaning 16 out of 52 DPS schools and four DPS administrative buildings.

The North Carolina Justice Center has represented the former IFM janitors in legal proceedings.

More at source: Herald Sun

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(Reuters) - Janitorial services provider ABM Industries Inc said it would buy privately held rival GCA Services Group for about $1.25 billion, more than tripling revenue at its high-margin business that provides services to schools and colleges.

Shares of ABM rose as much as 5.4 percent to $42.90, their biggest intraday percentage gain in more than four months.

GCA Services is owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and private equity firm Thomas H Lee Partners LP. It provides janitorial and custodial services to more than 3,200 public schools and over 80 colleges and universities across United States.

More at source: Reuters

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TAMPA — A Tampa-based janitorial service provider has been charged with an "ongoing pattern" denying African-American applications employment based on their race in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Diversified Maintenance System, LLC is also accused of subjecting one black employee to racial slurs, discriminatory practices and punishment for opposing its unlawful actions.

"Diversified Maintenance disagrees with every aspect of the EEOC's allegations and firmly stands by the company's commitment to equal employment opportunities for all applicants," company spokesperson Carol Cookerly said in a statement Thursday. "After a two-year unproductive fishing expedition -— where Diversified Maintenance has been cooperative in responding to every extensive document request from the EEOC — the commission has clearly chosen to file an unsubstantiated lawsuit on behalf of one single disgruntled former employee citing manipulated and redacted statistics."

More at source: TampaBay.com