August 21, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
Cleaners and organizers from Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ picketed the Boston offices of WeWork Aug. 17, protesting the company’s use of a low-wage non-union contractor to clean its “coworking” spaces. Local 32BJ organizer Eugenio Villasante said most offices in downtown Boston are cleaned by union workers who earn about $17 an hour, but WeWork’s contractor pays around $10.
“They don’t pay us enough,” WeWork cleaner Dalia Mendoza said in Spanish, saying that she earns about $220 for 25 hours cleaning bathrooms, mopping, and emptying garbage bins. WeWork, which rents temporary office space and meeting rooms to startups, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, charges $350 a month for a desk. It has locations in New York, Chicago, Austin, and London. Read more
