After years of fighting for fair wages, CWA 7777 Custodians at Denver Public Schools (DPS) won significant wage increases in the 2019 bargaining.
In 2016, CWA political activists worked with AFL-CIO and community allies to pass the Colorado Amendment 70 to increase the state minimum wage to $12 by 2020.
In 2017, union members and supporters mobilized for pay increases by wearing buttons which declared, “Support all our custodians! CWA demands respect for their worth and work.”
This year, CWA successfully bargained a $14.14 starting wage. The wage increase came after CWA activists helped push the City and County of Denver to pass a minimum wage increase for city, county and airport workers of $15 by 2021.
CWA 7777 Vice President Marlene Jimenez stated, “For many of us, the schools we clean are our community and like a family. This is our heart. This victory is about respect and getting fair wages for the work DPS Custodians perform.”
Next up is a fight to win a higher minimum wage for all workers in Denver. Jimenez said, “Our mobilization and our political action here in Denver were the keys to winning better wages at the bargaining table this year. We have to keep working in the workplace and in politics to get real change.”
