With Stanford’s janitorial workers’ regional contract up for renegotiation this April, the Stanford Student and Labor Alliance (SALA) held an open meeting for new members last Sunday to rally support for the SEIU Local 1877 workers’ union. More than 40 people packed into the Asian American Activities Center to discuss upcoming actions for the janitorial staff in academic buildings.

According to Cenobio Hernandez ‘18, one of SALA’s three leaders, the workers’ union has taken the lead in the drive to seek a contract more favorable for workers, while SALA and other Stanford students are playing a supporting role. According to a questionnaire done by the workers’ union, some of the largest concerns of the workers include wages, job security and workplace harassment — particularly sexual harassment.

Since workers are contractually forbidden to strike on campus, a large part of student and faculty support will be shown through rallies and petitions.

“In the past, the administration has been able to use students as an excuse, saying that students want academic buildings to be open longer, so workers’ hours have to be changed,” Hernandez said. “Our voice has been used in a way that dismisses workers’ positions, so we need to show that we are with the workers.”

More at source: Stanford Daily

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Hundreds of janitors staged demonstrations at the airport, other major employers in metro area in 24-hour strike. 

Janitors across the Twin Cities metro area walked off the job and took to the streets Wednesday in the midst of tense negotiations with cleaning companies over wages and working conditions.

The 24-hour strike was the first by subcontracted union janitors in the Twin Cities in decades, according to Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents roughly 4,000 janitors in the metropolitan area.

More at source: Star Tribune

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Window cleaner

Mix equal parts of distilled white vinegar and water. Apply to windows with a sponge. Wipe clean using a squeegee. (Remember to wet the squeegee blade first so it won't skip.)

Blinds

To clean washable blinds, mix 1 cup ammonia, ½ cup white distilled vinegar, ¼ cup baking soda and 1 gallon of warm water. Using a sponge or cloth, wipe blinds with mixture. Rinse with clear water.

Automatic coffee makers

To dissolve minerals and oily build-up, fill the reservoir with white distilled vinegar and run the coffee maker through a brewing cycle. Empty the carafe. Rinse away vinegar residue by running a full reservoir of water through the brewing cycle. (As always, follow manufacturer's care instructions.)

RELATED: 23 ways to clean your home (and yourself) using lemons

Kill grass

Forget store-bought grass and weed killers. Pour full-strength white distilled vinegar on unwanted vegetation. Reapply as needed.

Keep cut flowers fresh

Fresh flowers last longer if you add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the water in a 1-quart vase. Trim stems and change water every few days or when water starts to get cloudy.

No-wax floors

For rinse-free cleaning, mop using a solution of ½ cup of white distilled vinegar to a half-gallon of warm water. Change water as it gets dirty.

Microwave

Boil a solution of ¼ cup of white distilled vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave until steam forms on the window. Wipe away food residue.

Hair rinse

After every few washings, remove shampoo build-up by rinsing hair with a solution of 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar (either white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar) and 1 cup of water. Adjust amount of vinegar to suit your hair type. Less vinegar for dry hair; more vinegar for oily hair. A second rinse with plain water is optional. Hair will be silky and shiny.

Cleaner dishes and glasses

More at source: Today

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SHOCKING! 

Two Tennessee police officers Tased a middle school cleaning woman they mistook for a burglar early this month.

Now, some of criticizing the officers' use of force.

The Chattanooga Times-Free Press reported the two Collegedale police officers responded to Ooltewah Middle School on the night of Jan. 11 and noticed one of the doors to the building open.

The officers entered the school with their guns drawn to look for intruders. They didn't know if a cleaning staff was working that night, but they did find some cleaning supplies outside a restroom.

While checking a room that has two entrances, a woman walked into the same from the opposite entrance. She wasn't carrying anything.

The officers asked the woman to identify herself, but she appeared to not understand English.

According to the officers' report, she refused to stop and show them her identification. She replied "no" to every question they asked both in English and Spanish.

The woman then left the room and began to walk quickly down a hallway. When one of the officers yelled the Spanish word for stop, the officers claim she began to run away.

The officers proceeded to chase her through the school's cafeteria, down a flight of stairs and outside into the parking lot.

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More at source: Al.com

IJCSA performed a phone poll of 200 potential cleaning customers in the United States. The calls were random and made both to potential commercial and residential clients. We already knew the answers that the poll would provide but we made the calls anyway. Our question was very simple. "If two cleaning services submitted a price quote to clean your home or business and the prices were roughly the same price, and one company was certified and the other company was not would you pick the certified cleaning company or the non certified company?" Ask yourself the same question. The results: 187 potential customers picked the certified company. Don`t wait till your potential client asks you for a certification. Turn in your company education and training certificates with all estimates and proposals. 

All Certification Courses Included With Membership          

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Girsch's top five tips are:

1. Maximize your hanging space with slim-line hangers
2. Don't stack clothes, file them
3. Color-code using ROY-G-BIV
4. Display accessories like a boutique
5. Bin other accessories or loose items

About NEAT Method (from website)

NEAT Method is a lifestyle service committed to providing a more luxurious and smartly appointed living space. We recognize that life gets hectic and that maintaining an organized home can become a challenge. NEAT Method will design a customized solution that is not only effective but sustainable.

More at source: Fox News 6 

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Walk into any of Blount County Schools’ 23 buildings, and you won’t smell the strong ammonia, lemon or pine odors people often associate with cleaning products. Instead, Blount County has replaced harsh chemicals with safer and more environmentally friendly products and practices over the past five years.

“Many people went through the years thinking that clean has a smell,” said Gary Farmer, the schools’ facilities director. “Clean does not have a smell.”

More at source: Daily Times

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An Austin businessman who owns a commercial janitorial service operating in three Texas cities has been indicted for tax fraud.

Victor Antolik is charged with five counts of filing false tax returns and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede tax laws, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to 18 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, plus restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

More at source: Biz Journals

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You’re probably used to reading the ingredient list on all your food by now.  It’s pretty much a habit.  And you know exactly what words to look for so you know whether to avoid that particular product. But what about the ingredients in your household cleaners?

If you don’t pay attention to the back of your multipurpose cleaner, you might be using chemicals that are dangerous to you, your family, and even your pet’s health.  Not exactly what you want when you are just trying to clean your kitchen.  If you do read the labels on your cleaners, it might feel like you need a degree in chemistry to understand what’s really in there.

Don’t worry, we’ll cover some of the most dangerous toxins that are lurking in your cabinets, so you know to avoid them as well as give you some simple and natural alternatives.  You won’t have to go out and buy new expensive products because you probably already have the ingredients for a clean kitchen in your house!

1. Chlorine

We’ll start with a relatively easy one, chlorine.  This is the chemical that is usually found in pools, but you can also find it in toilet bowl cleaners, stain removers, and household tap water. We are exposed to chlorine pretty much every day and we don’t even know it.  City water generally uses chlorine to help get rid of bacteria, which is a good reason to use a filter on your tap. But because it’s in our water, we run the risk of overexposure when it’s in our cleaners.  It can cause respiratory problems and even disrupt thyroid function.

What to use instead: Two big natural products for all home cleaning are going to be vinegar and baking soda.  You can use vinegar to clean your toilet and as a whitener for your laundry.  You could also use borax in your laundry or find a cleaner that is chlorine free.  Install a filter on both your tap and your showers so you can reduce your exposure to chlorine even more.

BEVERLY — Icy sidewalks proved to be a launching pad for parents upset about the janitorial services at Sutherland Elementary School.

Students returned from winter break last Monday to find most of the sidewalks hadn't been shoveled or were cleared with only narrow paths, said Colleen Loehr, of Beverly.

Loehr volunteers as a traffic moderator on Monday mornings and Tuesday afternoons at the school at 10015 S. Leavitt St. in Beverly. Her sons, Ryan, 9, and William, 7, are third- and first-graders.

She's stationed at the kiss-and-go drop-off at the northwest corner of the school on Monday mornings. As she was unloading children and their backpacks last week, kids were slipping and falling. Concerned parents stopped, causing frustration by hurried parents waiting behind.

More at source: DNAinfo.com

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