Allegations of Labour Violations Levelled at Dream Office REIT's Cleaning Contractors on Bay St. Properties

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - October 29, 2015) - Mila Viernes is a single mom who needs to work two jobs to make ends meet. Now she's out of one of those jobs.

"I do not make enough money with one job to pay my mortgage, utilities, groceries, and car expenses," said Viernes. "That is why I work overtime and two jobs to get by."

"It upsets me that they did not retain us," she said. "I have been cleaning there for nine years."

Numerous legal complaints were filed last week against companies contracted by Dream Office REIT to provide cleaning services at 330, 350, 357, 360 and 366 Bay Street, 80 and 67 Richmond Street, 56 Temperance Street.

WHAT: Rally for Justice

WHEN: Thursday October 29^th @ 12 PM

WHERE: 330 Bay St., Toronto

The allegations include:

• That the previous contractor, Impact Cleaning Services Limited and its subcontractor MCC Inc., failed to pay workers the provincial minimum wage and vacation pay as required by the Employment Standards Act, 2000. There are currently 9 complaints filed with the Ministry of Labour seeking over $18, 000 in lost wages and vacation entitlements for the past 12 months.

• That Amphora Maintenance Limited, the company that took over the cleaning contract at the beginning of October, failed to meet its obligations under Bill 7 and currently owes cleaners over $25,000 in termination and severance pay.

• That Amphora Maintenance Limited refused to retain the employment of 12 cleaners, with a combined service of over sixty years. According to allegations contained in a complaint filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the workers were not retained because they were trying to form a union. It is common industry practice to retain existing cleaning staff when a cleaning company takes over a contract at a property.

SEIU Local 2, the union helping the workers organize, believes that Dream has a responsibility to ensure that the companies it contracts to maintain its properties comply with the law. The workers are seeking reinstatement, the wages they are owed and their desire to be unionized respected.

SEIU faxed a letter to Sharon Mitchell, President of Property Management for DREAM Office REIT last week, outlining the workers' concerns and asking Dream to intervene in order to rectify the situation. The letter has gone unanswered.

The Service Employees International Union is the largest and fastest growing union in North America, with 100,000 workers in Canada and two million workers across Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico.