The majority of janitors will get a $4.23 per hour total increase, including wages and benefits by the end of the agreement.

Wages will increase from $11.04/hour to $13.44/hour in 2012, when the contract expires. Janitors cleaning some East Bay properties currently making $10.64 per hour will begin to make up the difference, seeing a $2.60 increase, coming within $0.10 of their counterparts in the Silicon Valley.

Janitors will maintain their employer-paid family healthcare coverage and will now be eligible after 24 months instead of 30 months.

For the first time, janitors will now have a career ladder to move to better jobs based on their seniority.

Cleaning contactors will contribute $0.02 per hour per worker, or $623,988 over the life of the agreement, to the Building Skills Partnership, a project of the Leadership Training & Education Fund between the California janitors’ union SEIU Local 1877 and responsible businesses to build a strong future for building service workers, their families, and communities by advancing skills, opportunities and self-sufficiency. For more info, visit www.buildingskills.org.