DENVER, CO – After weeks of negotiations with their contractor, Flagship Facility Services, three hundred and fifty janitors and members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 105 that service the entirety of the airport will walk off the job on Friday after no agreement was reached by the time their previous contract expired on Thursday night.
“We’re united in this because we all deserve fair pay for our work,” said Luis Gonzalez, Janitor at DEN. “This isn’t easy for any of us, but we have to stand together to make sure that we’re treated fairly for the essential work that we do. We’ll do whatever it takes to make this a better airport for everyone, because when airport workers are paid wages we can live on, we can create a better experience for passengers.”
The janitors, who are a majority people of color and immigrants in our community, say that the low pay is only worsening the staffing shortages at the airport, and the strike is their response to a lack of an agreement to show Flagship their determination for improved wages and working conditions.
“Everyone knows that the people who work here keep this place running, every job is essential,” said Amer Garsak, Janitor at DEN, “that’s why they called us heroes for the past 20 months. Until they recognize that by treating us like it, we’re going to have to do what is necessary for our families.”
After a lack of resolution to what they maintain are unfair wages and workloads that have been worsened by the pandemic, 99% of the ballots cast by janitors employed by Flagship voted on Wednesday to authorize the strike.
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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 105 is an organization made up of more than 8,000 healthcare, property service, and airport workers in Colorado. Our union is part of the fastest-growing union in North America, whose 2 million members make up the largest healthcare union, the largest property services union, and the second-largest public services union.
