Newark Custodians Gain 30% Pay Raise

Custodians have always sought to improve their professional status, even before the pandemic brought the importance of professional cleaners into the spotlights. By staging rallies and strikes, housekeepers have demanded a living wage, improved benefits, and respect. Generally, wage increase percentages have rarely reached two figures.

Custodians working for the city of Newark, New Jersey, however, gained significant wage increases after the city council last week approved a 30% salary increase in an attempt to make recruitment and retention of custodians easier amid high inflation, the Newark Post reports.

Custodians working for the city currently earn between US$13.01 and $16.67 per hour. The city council raised that range to between $17.01 and $21.80, effective this year. A previous union agreement will add 2% raises in 2023 and 2024.

City officials believe the substantial wage increase was necessary as recruitment and retention of custodians has been difficult due to the worker shortage and the increase in the cost of living. The city’s custodial staff has had vacancies for 14 months. Other custodians have recently left or are planning to retire.

Although the city tried to hire workers through a temp agency, many of the candidates were not able to pass background checks needed to perform custodial duties in the police department.

City officials say the wage increase will bring custodial salaries in line with other similar positions. This is the third recent instance of the city having to increase salaries to compete in the changing labor market.

The city of Newark is far from the only employer to offer substantial raises and bonuses to retain employees. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas last week gave $5,000 bonuses to all 5,400 employees, WWNY-TV reports. The hotel also gave vacations to San Diego and Hawaii to two employees, including a housekeeping trainer.