ABM school custodians, who clean the Evergreen and Ridgefield School Districts in Southwest Washington, ratified a new contract on August 30.
 
Custodians made several important gains, including raises that bring Ridgefield custodians closer to the pay rates at Evergreen, improved vision coverage that covers lenses and frames for the first time ever, a much better dental plan, and substantially lower out-of-pocket health care costs for custodians who cover their families. Custodians also won important workload protections that guarantee staffing during the summer, and a permanent labor-management committee to address workload issues.

"It was a long, hard fight to finally get management to dig into their profit instead of just passing on the State-allotted wage increase that they get each year," said Dave Wilson, bargaining team member, Mt. View High School. "We made huge gains in training, keeping fully employer-paid medical coverage, plus getting a substantial raise. Our team feels good about this settlement."

In addition to ratifying a strong new contract, custodians also made big strides in building their political strength by signing up for SEIU's political action fund — they more than doubled the number of COPE contributors over the course of the contract campaign. Over 1/3 of all ABM school custodians now contribute to COPE to help build SEIU's political strength in Southwest Washington.