A Hillsboro, Ore., janitorial business failed to pay employees nearly $200,000 for work on five construction projects at public institutions since 2011, including the University of Oregon’s recent soccer and lacrosse field expansion, and the new state psychiatric hospital in Junction City, state labor officials said Wednesday.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said it has collected $160,000 in wages owed by Cornerstone Janitorial Services, compensating 58 workers. BOLI collected the funds directly from Cornerstone in multiple payments over the last year, spokesman Charlie Burr said. The state then distributed money to the employees it determined were underpaid.

The agency collected the final payment — $31,700 — from Cornerstone last week, Burr said. BOLI expects to distribute the payment to 21 employees by the end of the month, raising the total to about $192,000.

“A fair amount of work was done in the last year to collect wages that were owed,” Burr said.

Cornerstone, owned by Sang In Nam, works with building contractors, doing site maintenance and cleanup at large construction sites.

A majority of the unpaid wages — $121,485.63 — was owed to 22 Cornerstone employees who worked on the UO athletic department’s Casanova Center expansion and rebuild of the women’s soccer and lacrosse complex, which ran from 2011 to 2013. Both projects are at the Autzen Stadium complex.

A woman who answered the phone number listed for Cornerstone on Wednesday said Nam was unavailable to comment, then hung up.

Eleven Cornerstone employees were owed $10,932.10 for work on the state psychiatric hospital in Junction City, which opened in March.

BOLI also secured unpaid wages from Cornerstone on a Salem hospital project, an underground parking garage at Portland Community College and a high school renovation in Stayton, southeast of Salem.

More at source: Columbian

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Rural businesses in need of a helping hand got some financial assistance recently from the federal government.

United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development State Director Janelle Gustafson toured Western Montana last week to bestow several grants to business. Gustafson stopped by Kalispell on Nov. 3 to award Laura Blankenship with a $7,950 grant for her company, Heaven Scent Solutions. The Whitefish-based cleaning products entrepreneur now has a store in Kalispell, and with the help of a new grant, is approaching a distribution deal and planning to hire six new employees.

More at source: Daily Interlake

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"Asia-Pacific is the key market for metal cleaning chemicals"

PUNE, India, Nov 23, 2015 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) -- PUNE, India, November 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "Metal Cleaning Chemicals Market by Type (Aqueous & Solvent), by Metal Type (Steel, Aluminum, Copper Alloys & Others), by Region - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2020", published by MarketsandMarkets, The Metal Cleaning Chemicals Market size by value is projected to reach USD 16.3 Billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 4.9% between 2015 and 2020.

Browse 82 market data Tables and 52 Figures spread through 132 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Metal Cleaning Chemicals Market".

More at source:  Market Watch

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Lancaster County has hired a Harrisburg-area janitorial company to replace 24 workers who clean the courthouse and two other government buildings.

The county commissioners said the two-year, $943,244 contract with Cleanteam Building Services of Lemoyne, Cumberland County, will save taxpayers $474,287.

The commissioners stressed they are not dissatisfied with the work of the five full-time and 19 part-time employees who will lose their jobs. "As budgets continue to be tight, you have to look at these types of things," Commissioner Scott Martin said.

More at source: Lancaster Online

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Whether you are looking for a reliable home cleaner or a large company for your office or warehouse. You are in the right place. IJCSA has cleaning professionals for any job you may require.

Click here to find your professional service.

 Cleaning workers who lost their jobs after the property’s $110 million sale.

The workers, some who helped keep the mall clean for more than a decade, lost their jobs when new owners Grass River Property and Federal Reality Investment Trust hired a new cleaning contractor, Coastal Building Maintenance.

Now the cleaners and their union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.

“It’s illegal to discriminate against workers for belonging to a union,” said Ana Tinsly, communications specialist for SEIU Local 32BJ. “If they don’t want to collectively bargain with the workers or for whatever reason, to save money, etc., that’s the charge. We are still in the process of the investigation and filing the affidavit. I’m assuming it can take anywhere from a couple months to a year for something like this to be resolved.”

More at source: Miami Herald

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When it comes to cleaning -- and cleaning fast --hotel housekeeping knows what's up. 

The above video lays out some pro tips we'd never heard of -- and ones we can't wait to try out. When used correctly, they'll turn your home into the likes of a hotel suite. For example: 

• Vacuum into the room, then out. That way, you'll hit high-traffic spots twice without re-tracing your steps.
• Do the bathroom last. You'll minimize transferring goo and bacteria to the rest of your space.
• A toothbrush is your greatest weapon. Use it on bathroom grout to zap dirt from nooks and crannies. 

Watch the video at the source Huffington Post for more. 

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LASALLE, QC, Nov. 11, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc. (TSX: GDI) (the "Company" or "GDI"), is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Ainsworth Inc. ("Ainsworth"), a subsidiary of CEDA International Corporation ("CEDA").

"To welcome Ainsworth to our family is a milestone event for GDI that significantly enhances our position in the market and our value proposition to clients," statedClaude Bigras, President and CEO of GDI. "Uniting GDI's leading cross-Canadacommercial janitorial services platform with Ainsworth's cross-Canada HVAC-R, mechanical, electrical and technical services business positions GDI as the only company in Canada capable of providing building owners and managers with a full range of core facility maintenance services. Together with Ainsworth, we are now able to offer our clients a complete suite of best in class outsourced services, a one-stop-shop for all of their facility maintenance needs."

Murray Leimert, President and COO of Ainsworth stated, "We are extremely excited about becoming part of the GDI family. Like GDI, Ainsworth's mission is to provide clients with consistently high quality services at the best available price-quality ratio, delivered through locally-based teams of dedicated employees. Together, GDI and Ainsworth are unique in Canada, able to provide a complete facility maintenance services solution at an attractive value proposition."

About GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc.

GDI is a leading commercial facility services provider which offers a range of services in Canada and the United States to owners and managers of a variety of facility types including office buildings, hotels, shopping centres, industrial facilities, healthcare establishments, distribution facilities, airports and other transportation facilities. GDI's commercial facility services capabilities include commercial janitorial, installation, maintenance and repair of HVAC-R, mechanical and electrical systems, as well as other complementary services such as damage restoration and janitorial products manufacturing and distribution. GDI's subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: GDI). Additional information on GDI can be found on its website at www.gdi.com.    

Forward-Looking Information

This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Consequently, actual results and future events may differ materially from those anticipated by such statements. Readers should not rely unduly on such forward-looking statements.

 

SOURCE: GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc.

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A federal jury has awarded $650,000 to a Bulgarian janitor who was fired by a Bellevue businessman after being told he had to learn English or lose his job.

Yordan Petrov sued James D. Hebert and his wife, former King County Councilwoman Cynthia Sullivan, for discrimination, retaliation and withheld wages after he was summarily fired from Hebert Research after being ordered to take an English-as-a-second-language class after he’d been working for the company for five years without complaint.

The judgment, entered earlier this month after a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge James Robart in August, included $300,000 for state and federal retaliation claims, and $350,000 in punitive damages against Hebert and the company. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on discrimination claims alleged by Petrov.

“This is a very large judgment, particularly in a case involving a low-wage employee,” said Petrov’s attorney, Elizabeth Hanley.

More at source: Seattle Times

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A Pittsburgh union representing 1,000 commercial office cleaners reached an agreement Thursday with its management association, averting a strike just two days before the current contract was set to expire.

Bargaining between the two groups had been ongoing since Sept. 9, but the negotiations reached a tipping point Tuesday when members of the 32BJ local, a part of the Service Employees International Union, voted to strike if the sides failed to reach a deal by midnight Saturday. 

The union handles janitorial work throughout the region at locations that include the U.S. Steel Tower, Gateway Center, PNC Plaza and Bayer’s headquarters. They were negotiating with the Managers, Owners and Contractors Association for greater health care benefits and wage increases.

On Thursday, the two sides reached a four-year tentative agreement that includes “a fair wage increase and maintains benefits at their current level,” according to a statement released by the union. The deal, which is still subject to union ratification, would expire Oct. 31, 2019.

More at source: Post Gazette

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