Labor in the News: UMD Cleaning Staff Calls for Better Working Conditions

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)“At 4 a.m every workday, Vicenta Reyes starts cleaning classrooms, labs and halls at the University of Maryland in College Park,” reported the Washington Post last Thursday. “At 8 a.m., she goes inside a janitorial closet and sits next to cleaning supplies to eat her lunch. The daily routine, Reyes and other cleaning staff members said, is part of a pattern of poor working conditions at U-Md., and on Thursday they staged a protest to publicize their concerns.” The action was organized by the members of AFSCME Local 1072 at College Park and is part of a larger campaign for dignity and respect as well as a new contract, AFSCME Maryland's Stuart Katzenberg tells Union City.