Janitor Battle Splashes Onto Business Press

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

“Is Lee Development Group’s Cleaning Contractor BREAKING THE LAW?” blares the banner ad running atop Gazette.net’s business page. SEIU 32BJ is running the ad for a full month to expose Lee’s hiring of contractor Beltway Cleaning Services “which unjustly refused to hire all but one of the workers who previously maintained this building.” Lee Development Group (LDG) is an industry leader owned by a founding family of Silver Spring. Meanwhile, the union says, Beltway “pays its employees poverty-like wages that undermine wage standards for janitors throughout the county.” The ad takes visitors to a website detailing charges against Beltway and asks visitors to send an e-mail to tell LDG that business leaders in Montgomery County should use responsible contractors who pay fair wages at their properties.