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Janitors Fight Back Terminations at
Downtown Detroit Building

Congressman John Conyers supports fired janitors: Photo by George Waldman

On May 6th, over 150 Local 3 Janitors, community and union supporters marched and rallied in an effort to bring light to the March 31st termination of Janitors at the 1001 Woodward (Charter One Bank) building in downtown Detroit.  The cleaners were given a termination notice only 2 days before they were expected to leave. Sky Development, the building’s owner, decided to bring in a non-union cleaning company, leaving the Janitors who dedicated between 18 and 35 years on the job out in the street. 

Patricia Feeley was shocked when she got notice of her sudden termination, so much that she ended up in the hospital after her discovery.  “I had wages and benefits that helped me raise my 5 children.  I also had the trust of the tenants.  They knew me and my co-workers did a quality job and they appreciated our hard work.  Sky Development should be ashamed of themselves.” 

Cleveland Neal was just about to celebrate his 34th year cleaning 1001 Woodward when he got the bad news.  “Now I spend my days looking for a job and there aren’t any good ones out there.  This couldn’t come at a worse time for me.”  The new janitors will be paid significantly less and not have access to the same quality benefits the terminated janitors had.   

Press links:

 May 2005 Michigan Citizen article by Diane Bukowski