NJ Office Cleaners Union Authorizes Strike

Members of a union representing 7,000 office cleaners in New Jersey have voted to authorize a strike if they can't reach an agreement with a group of cleaning companies on a new contract.

Hundreds of members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union rallied Thursday in Newark, and later marched through the downtown area.

The union represents 60,000 office cleaners in the Northeast. Several states have contracts expiring Dec. 31, including New Jersey.

The union is negotiating with The New Jersey Contractors Association, a group of contract cleaning companies that includes ABM, ALLAN Industries Inc., Bravo Building Services, CRI International, CRS Facility Services and ISS Facility Services. The group said it is committed to reaching an agreement in the best interest of all parties involved.

On December 1, the union in New York City also vote to authorize a strike if no agreement can be reached.