[UPDATED] Janitors' Union to Protest at Broward County Courthouse

SEIU Protestors

That will be the view outside the Broward County Courthouse this afternoon. Close to 100 members and sympathizers of the Service Employees International Union plan to protest the county's negotiations with janitorial services provider TCB Systems, Inc. of Miami.

TCB Systems is on the shortlist of bidders seeking to clean various buildings in Broward County. The company also maintains the campuses of Nova Southeastern University, where SEIU members were fired in 2007 after a union drive. SEIU says that TCB Systems has been bouncing workers' checks, harrassing union members, and that the county should choose another contractor. 

Check out this New Times story for more background on the Nova firings.

UPDATE: Broward County Purchasing agent Liz Overton says that TCB has been under contract to clean the main courthouse since 2002, at a rate of roughly $1.4 million/year. "The courthouse is a major contract," she says. TCB has also been under contract, since 2003, to clean various other county buildings for earnings of nearly $500,000/year.