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Q: What is Justice for Janitors?
 We are a movement of workers and allies seeking respect and a better life for ourselves, our families and our communities.
In the past, cleaners at different work locations organized and attempted to negotiate contracts with management separately from each other. While this ‘one building/one contract’ approach resulted in some improvements it has not given us the bargaining power to raise standards significantly. |
The Justice for Janitors approach is different.
By uniting all cleaning workers across Toronto, and calling upon community leaders to join us, we will have the power necessary to demand significant improvements to wages, benefits and working conditions for all of us.
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Q: Management says forming a union will not help us, that we won’t achieve anything. Is this true?
If this was true, then why do they try so hard to convince us not to unite?
The fact is they know that with a union they will have to respect us, negotiate increases to our wages and benefits and deal with our issues. |
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Q: If we unionize, will the Company lose contracts and will we lose our jobs?
Companies say this to workers all the time to scare us and try to stop us from uniting.
Over the past year SEIU Local 2 has organized hundreds of cleaners across Toronto and not one of those contracts has been lost because the workers chose to unionize. The truth is that without a union we have no real job security. If you work at a building without a union and teh Company loses the contract there is no way to fight to protect your job. With a union, workers can demand that the new cleaning contractor honour their jobs and union contract. |
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Q: Can they fire me for supporting the union?
No, it is illegal for our bosses to fire or discriminate against workers who support the union.
Also, every worker in Canada - regardless of immigration status - has the right to join a union. |
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Q: I have heard that if we unionize we will no longer be able to talk directly with our supervisors. Is this true?
As union workers we are always able to talk and try to solve problems with our supervisors.
The difference is that in a non-union workplace the boss has the final say. In a unionized workplace if you disagree with management you can file a grievance and have a fair hearing on the issue. |
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Q: Can I join the union if I am a sub-contractor?
In most cases, the answer is yes.
In fact, sub-contractors often need a union more than hourly employees because they can lack basic workplace protections if they are injured on the job or laid-off. Your eligibility depends on how much of your work you receive from your Company. |
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Q: I have heard that the minimum wage will be going up soon, so do we really need a union to raise our pay?
An increase in minimum wage will be great.
But even with an increased minimum wage many workers will still live at the poverty level. A union means we will be respected and gives us the ability to negotiate a living wage, as well as all the other job protections we need. |
Q: How much are union dues?
Monthly union dues are equal to 1.8% of our gross income.
It is important that we pool our resources to be able to take on big, wealthy corporations. Also, we do not pay any union dues until a majority of us approve a first contract which we agree is worth paying dues for. |
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