Hundreds launch strike

SAN DIEGO — Approximately 100 janitors represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) followed through on a weekend strike vote by walking off the job Monday night at 12 office buildings, although the union said it would limit the strike to a handful of companies each day to minimize the financial impact on its 1,400 workers, according to The Union-Tribune. Just hours before the strike, San Diego biotechnology company Amylin Pharmaceuticals ordered its GMI Building Services to arrange health and prescription drug coverage for workers who clean its five-building campus, becoming the first local company to ask its contractor to give janitors insurance coverage, according to the article. The Union-Tribune reported that federal mediator Joe Mansolillo will join negotiation sessions planned for tomorrow and Friday. Click here and here to read previous CM e-News Daily coverage of this issue. Click here to read the full article. For related information, click here. To return to today''s news, click here. To discuss this topic with other industry professionals, click here. For a free subscription to CM e-News Daily, the leading provider of breaking industry news via the Internet, click here. For a free introductory subscription (or subscription renewal) to Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine, the leading publication for the facility maintenance and contract cleaning industries, click here.