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Montgomery County Councilmembers Call for Passage of Bill to Protect Workers’ Jobs When Contractors Change |
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| Rockville, MD, July 30, 2012—Montgomery County Councilmembers Valerie Ervin, Marc Elrich and Council Vice President Nancy Navarro today joined members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ to call for passage of County Bill 19-12, which is known as the Displaced Service Worker Protection Act. The bill would ensure that vulnerable, low-wage service workers have temporary job protections when their employer’s service contract is terminated. The Councilmembers and SEIU members held a news conference today in Rockville to explain the importance of passing the bill. Bill 19-12 would have little to no financial impact on the cities, counties or the state, according to economist Hugh Kelly, a noted expert in real estate economics. An economist, a local cleaning contractor and commercial office cleaners have submitted testimony in support of passage of the bill. Currently the new or successor contractor is not required to retain the incumbent service workers and must quickly recruit new employees. This process often results in sudden unemployment for many existing low-wage service workers. The goal of the bill is to provide notice to and a transition period of temporary employment for service workers who are subject to unemployment due to their employer’s loss of a service contract. “Contracted security, cleaning and other property service industries are subject to rapid contractor turn over with little or no notice to employees,” said Councilmember Ervin. “This bill would enact a modest and temporary control that will provide stability to service workers whose lives can be irreparably harmed by even short-term income interruptions.” Cleaning workers and other property service workers in Montgomery County are now subject to a revolving door of employers, who are free to lay them off with no notice. Workers are sometimes fired within hours after a new contractor comes in, creating instability and hardship for their children and families. The Displaced Worker Protection Act would establish a 90-day transition period during which workers would be allowed to keep their jobs. “Bill 19-12 provides notice and more predictability for hard working low-wage earners,” said Council Vice President Navarro. “Although the Bill does not guarantee a job, raise wages or provide additional benefits, it goes a long way in protecting hard working families.” According to a letter submitted to the Council by Building Service Management, Inc., which has accounts in Maryland and the District, “Displaced Worker legislation allows us to compete on the quality of our services without hurting employees—something all responsible contractors are pleased to do.” “This bill provides workers with a modest degree of stability and time in which to either demonstrate their abilities to the new contracting company or seek other employment,” said Councilmember Elrich. “It provides modest protection for employees, while not requiring the employer to continue the terms of the old contract. This law has been in effect in Washington, D.C., for 18 years and neither side made an argument that the law had any negative effect on the office real estate market.” Similar legislation has been a success in many states and localities across the country – including Washington, D.C., which has many of the same cleaning contractors as Maryland. San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles and the state of California have also passed displaced worker laws. Mr. Kelly, the expert in real estate economics, said in his written testimony that: “Cities covered by such laws have been amongst the most robustly performing office markets over the long period of my study. They have achieved higher levels of pricing per square foot, a higher ratio of price to net income, and stronger volumes of capital flow. There was not a single instance where a senior real estate manager, owner or investor mentioned the Displaced Worker Protection as a factor in building investment, pricing, or operations.” Kelly’s study was commissioned by 32BJ of the SEIU. Nearly 5,000 members of 32BJ work and reside in Maryland, including office cleaners and private security officers who maintain and protect commercial buildings and government agencies throughout the County. With more than 120,000 members in nine states, including 15,000 in the D.C. Metropolitan Area, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country. Complete text of Councilmember Ervin’s Statement at today’s news conference: “Montgomery County has a very high cost of living, in fact according to the County’s 2012 Self-Sufficiency Standard; a family of four would need to make $82,877 a year to afford to live here. Twenty five percent of the County’s population is below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Approximately 120,000 of our residents are uninsured and as many as 70,000 will remain uninsured even after full implementation of health care reform. But the fact remains that most poor people work--they go to work every day. This low-wage world includes busboys, waitresses, janitors, food-service workers, bus drivers, store clerks, security guards, maids, home health aides, and day-laborer’s just to name a few. It is difficult for people in low-wage jobs to break out of the cycle of poverty. They obey the law, pay their bills, and try to improve their education. In the case of the bill we are here to discuss today—all of our service sector workers are asking for is a temporary modest control that would provide a more level playing field. The Displaced Worker Bill will ensure that experienced service employees are not arbitrarily replaced when a service contract changes hands. It will require a new contractor to offer employment to the incumbent employees for the first 90 days of the new contract. The legislation only addresses the offer of continued employment. It does not establish additional requirements regarding compensation. It also does not require that the new employer keep these employees beyond the 90 day period and an employee may be terminated for cause. The Displaced Worker Bill has the full support of County Executive Ike Leggett and five members of the Council have signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation, which is a majority of this legislative body. But even that fact has not stopped a few of my colleagues from doing all that they can to stop this bill from coming to a vote on the Council on the day that was agreed upon by the sponsor of the bill and the Council President. The Chair of the HHS Committee took the bill out of consideration for a previously scheduled committee meeting on Friday, July 20, without the knowledge of or cooperation of the sponsor of the bill, and the Council President took this bill off the agenda for full Council consideration on Friday. The Displaced Worker Bill is not a bill about raising the salaries of the employees who work cleaning buildings or provide other critical service work, it is about providing them with the most basic of all job protections--notification and the offer of temporary employment when a service contract changes hands. Montgomery County is not the first jurisdiction to consider this type of legislation. Similar laws are already on the books in the District of Columbia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Providence and New York City. I can assure you that these jurisdictions like Montgomery County are open for business. This law is about providing fundamental fairness for our lowest paid service workers so they can provide stability for their families. I am proud to stand with these service workers today and will continue to stand with them as they fight for fairness. # # # |
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