WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Oct. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Contracted janitors at the University of Winnipeg have won their first Union contract. After reaching a tentative agreement with Dexterra Group on Saturday, the members of SEIU Local 2 ratified the contract on Sunday.

The nearly forty cleaners will see a slew of improvements to their working conditions at the university, including a six per cent increase in wages; employer paid extended health and dental benefits; paid sick days (two per calendar year); paid bereavement leave; a uniform allowance; fair workload language; no contracting out language providing job security; an additional statutory holiday (Boxing Day); more paid vacation; paid time for union orientation of new employees; and more.

As part of the Memorandum of Settlement, the Unfair Labour Practice complaint was resolved.

It's a one-year deal and the cleaners will be back to the negotiating table the next academic year.

The cleaners are grateful to the campus community, particularly the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association and the students, for helping them win the contract.

Attention now turns to ensuring the workers' contract and union rights are protected in the event of a contract change to a new service provider. To follow the story please visit .

BACKGROUND

The contracted cleaners are the lowest paid workers at the University of Winnipeg. They organized a union in the spring of 2025. Dexterra Group's management didn't respond well to the workers' unionizing drive. Several cleaners reported numerous violations of the Manitoba Employment Standards Code by the cleaning company, leading SEIU to file an Unfair Labour Practice complaint at the Manitoba Labour Board.

Prior to this weekend, Dexterra has been unwilling to agree to meaningful wage increases and had refused to agree to basic language around job security and fair workloads, as well as other provisions that Dexterra cleaners have secured in Collective Bargaining Agreements elsewhere in Canada.

After several days of negotiations in August, on September 13 the janitors voted unanimously to strike.

SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, including over 10,000 contract janitors.

Diego Mendez
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(416) 476-7762

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