CMU custodians to get wage increase after negotiations
Towers Custodian Steward Rollie Brown cleans the Towers Fitness Room at Central Michigan Unviersity during his morning shift on Sunday, March 29, 2026. (CM Life | Blace Carpenter)
Central Michigan University and the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council have reached an agreement regarding custodial staff wages.
In a press release, FOP Labor Council director David Willis said the union has “made real progress.”
Custodial services is one of five groups that have accepted a market wage adjustment so far in negotiations, Willis said. Currently, CMU custodians earn $15.81 an hour; however, they are beginning to see a 10.5% wage adjustment, making their new hourly income $17.50.
The university has set these new wages for the next three years, and custodians will be seeing those improvements as soon as this academic year, and they will continue to see them for the following two years.
“Overall, it’s not a ton of money these people are asking for…all we’re asking in negotiations is just to have a livable wage,” said Willis.
Before these adjustments, some custodians even qualified for state assistance, and Jason Knight, union steward for trades, said there is no excuse for these low wages.
“It doesn’t matter if tuition’s down or if it’s high, they have this campus and this facility to maintain, and that’s what we’re hired to do,” Knight said.
Previously reported by Central Michigan Life, custodial staff at CMU have seen a steep decline in employment over the past few years, going from 100 custodians down to around 60.
A typical university event takes 50 custodians alone. This means most of the university's janitorial staff are mandated to work overtime, the CM Life article reported. CMU has tried other options, like subbing the work out; however, that made the issue worse, Willis said.
“(Staff has) taken a backseat to these last three, four, maybe five contracts, because CMU is claiming hard times and hardship, which we understand," Knight said. "We’re a big family, and we have to work together to accomplish what’s ahead.”
Everyone who was a part of these labor negotiations has settled, Willis said. The final 56 bargaining members will see a one-dollar wage adjustment in the near future.
“CMU deeply values the contributions of all our faculty and staff and their support of our students,” said CMU spokesperson Ari Harris. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith with the union to reach a mutually agreeable outcome.”
