CUSD 200 Custodians Demand Higher Pay, Sick Days Amid Pandemic

WHEATON, IL — Custodians at Community Unit School District 200 are pushing for higher wages and paid sick days as the district has ramped up cleaning efforts in the midst of the pandemic.

The news comes as custodians head back to the bargaining table Monday with American Building Management, the contract company that manages them. ABM has offered the custodians a 10-cent hourly raise, according to Nick Desideri, communications coordinator for Service Employees International Union Local 1, which represents the nearly 100 custodians at CUSD 200. Desideri said some custodians make "as little as $11 an hour."

For Desideri and many of the custodians, this is not a fair wage. Desideri told Patch, "These are folks who are putting their lives and health on the line.”

Desideri asserted that "a lack of paid sick days would put the health of the entire community at risk.”

Maria Gonzalez, who has been a custodian with CUSD 200 for 13 years, told Patch via a translator that she agrees with Desideri, who said that the school district ultimately has the final say. Gonzalez said, "We haven't received the support we need from our employer to get higher wages.”

Gonzalez told Patch she hasn't had sick pay since she started working for the school district. She added that the custodians don't get paid holidays either.

Gonzalez added that custodians do get a week of vacation time, which increases to two weeks after five years of work.

“We are directly fighting the spread of the virus,” Gonzalez told Patch. She said they are cleaning all surfaces and "do it happily because we love working with the students and the teachers.”

Gonzalez said that since the pandemic started, custodians have been instructed to "clean everything with bleach," in addition to their daily duties.

As for what the future holds, Desideri told Patch the school says it values the importance of custodians as it prepares to reopen for the 2020-21 school year. But, Gonzalez said, "I’m unsure what the future holds because there’s a lot of uncertainty due to the coronavirus, and the school hasn’t fully disclosed to us what we will need to do.”

She added that custodians often don't get overtime hours, so "most likely if they ask us to work harder, it will be in between those eight hours.”

“We are fighting for higher wages and sick pay because we have to take care of ourselves; we have to take care of our families," Gonzalez said.

A petition is circulating to support the custodians in their efforts. Readers can click the link to sign the petition. In its first 24 hours, the petition got 600 signatures, in addition to messages of support from community members, Desideri said.

Gonzalez said the support from the community is great, but she hopes to see action on the part of ABM during negotiations. She said, “We feel the offer of ABM of 10 cents is a slap in the face for all the years we have put in serving CUSD 200.”

Erica Loiacono, director of community engagement and communications for CUSD 200, told Patch via email that "District 200 and ABM Industries are committed to the safety and well-being of our custodial teams, teachers, staff and students."

Loiacono said that for the last three years, custodial employees have gotten as many as 10 paid days that they can use at their discretion for vacation, sick pay or personal time off. She added that ABM employees receive some paid holidays.

Loiacono added that "any time off that our custodial staff has taken related to COVID-19 has been paid in full by the District and not deducted from PTO."

Gonzalez told Patch that fellow employees who were diagnosed with coronavirus did get two weeks off that were paid and not taken from what she called their designated vacation time.

Loiacono wrote, "District 200 very much cares for all of our staff members, including our contracted ABM staff."

ABM did not immediately respond to Patch's email request for comment early Sunday.