Cleaners protest use of potentially unsafe product

By Nicole Shaker •

Cleaners at NSU are opposing the use of the newly implemented cleaning product H30, which many of them believe is toxic. 32BJ Service Employees International Union, the branch of the SEIU that represents the group, hosted a rally Feb. 13 to support the cleaning staff.

Anna Tinsly, regional communications manager for 32BJ SEIU, helped lead the rally.

“We’re here to protest the use of a cleaning agent that is giving workers a myriad of serious side effects – welts, hives, trouble breathing and anaphylactic reactions, sore throats, skin peeling,” she said.

The cleaners are employed by Encompass Onsite, NSU’s cleaning contractor since December 2020. Encompass hires and manages all NSU cleaners. It introduced H30 to the staff in November 2023.

“[H30] created some reactions in some of the workers, and when the workers shared their concern about the reactions, they were met with a lot of pressure from the company to not do that, to not speak up and to keep using the product,” said Helene O’Brien, district director for 32BJ SEIU.

Encompass stands by the safety of H30.

“The product itself is safe. It has repeatedly been proven to be a safe product. It is approved by OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] and the FDA and Green-certified,” said Lisa Fisher, chief people officer for Encompass.

Daniel Alfonso, vice president of NSU Facilities Management and Public Safety, said NSU cannot take a stance on the situation.

“When there is a dispute between the union and the company, it’s not appropriate for us to get involved because they’re not my employees,” Alfonso said. “They are Encompass’ employees, not NSU employees.”

He does not believe H30 poses a risk.

“The cleaning solutions that are used on this campus are all OSHA-approved. From our review of the product that they are using and the safety data sheet that is provided by OSHA, I have no indication that the product is unsafe,” he said.

32BJ SEIU members posted fliers outside the Don Taft University Center a month after the death of their coworker, Graciano Del Valle Nuñez, 75, asking NSU students to attend the rally. The flier indicated that H30 may be connected to Nuñez’s death.

Fisher said this is incorrect.

“He had a job as a floor care technician. Floor care technicians do not use the H30 product,” she said. “He was a valued member of Encompass. The team did a lot to support him.”

A student saw Nuñez requiring medical assistance behind the NSU Bookstore on Jan. 9 around 9 p.m. and provided CPR. Another witness called 911 and Public Safety. An ambulance transported Nuñez to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Encompass launched a fundraiser with a goal of $5,000 to provide financial assistance to Nuñez’s widow, Maria, following the death. She also works as a cleaner at NSU.

The 32BJ SEIU flier also stated that Maria Elena Hernandez, a shop steward for 32BJ SEIU and cleaner at NSU for 16 years, may have been put on administrative leave by Encompass because she spoke out against H30.

“We’ve filed contract violation grievances against our employer, Encompass, due to their retaliation against workers who have spoken up about their concerns about the health and safety,” the flier read. “Now we turn to you — the students — to ask for your support in our fight to keep our workplace safe, healthy, and free from intimidation and retaliation.”

Fisher said Hernandez is under investigation for undisclosed reasons, and that Hernandez is still being fully paid and receiving benefits.

The protest took place on University Drive, in front of the Terry Building. Protesters held signs while chanting, “No matter what it takes, we are going to win this war,” “An injury to one is an injury to all” and “Justice for janitors,” in English and Spanish. The group also marched to the Encompass office on SW 39th Street to deliver a letter stating their grievances and requests.

“We are standing up today to ask the company to do two things: one, bring back the leader, Maria Elena Hernandez,” O’Brien said. “The other is that the company should either discontinue use of their product and compensate or offer an alternative to workers who are either allergic or having reactions to it.”

Hernandez attended the rally. She said that when she was suspended, Encompass HR wanted her to wait in the operation director’s office while they got her an Uber to take her off campus, so that the other workers would not see her leaving.

“I’m suspended for pure retaliation, because I care about the health of the workers. I demand a safe and pleasant environment to work. Human Resources told me that I had no reason to get involved in their work,” Hernandez said in Spanish. “I am the voice of the workers and they don’t want to listen to me. It’s not that we don’t want to clean the university, because we feel proud to work at Nova. What we want is that, if you see that this liquid is affecting some workers, to review it and do the correct procedure, like I asked them.”

Angel Valdez, NSU cleaner, was disappointed to learn of Hernandez’s suspension and hopes their voices will be heard.

“They think she is the sole voice of the union. But they are incorrect. We are all the union,” he said in Spanish.

When Encompass made the switch to H30 last year, the company instructed cleaners to use H30 for every surface, eliminating all other cleaning products.

Maria Theresa Hernandez Palacio, NSU cleaner, has been hospitalized twice since then with symptoms like rashes and vomiting.

“The liquid poisoned me twice. I was sick. I looked like a monster and I had to go to the emergency room. I came out vomiting,” she said in Spanish. “That was in November and in December, I repeated the same thing because they told me they changed it, but they had put a label on it, and it turned out that it was the same liquid and it hit me, and I went back.”

During Palacio’s second hospitalization, Hernandez stayed with her in the hospital all night.

“Maria Elena [Hernandez], my representative, took me to the emergency room here at Nova, and the doctor told me that I had the same reaction, and if they take me in a third time, my trachea would be blocked and I could die,” Palacio said in Spanish.

Palacio feels unsafe at her job.

“I am very afraid of getting that reaction again. I don’t want to be in the hospital again. That scares me, and it makes me sad because I come to work with fear,” she said in Spanish. “It is a persecution at all hours. I have to use that liquid. Otherwise I will go home. That’s what they tell me.”

Valdez also suffered symptoms after using H30.

“They are forcing me to use it, and the first time I was out of breath, so I had to leave,” he said in Spanish. “This second time, I used it with a mask and gloves. However, I still lost my voice for the past week. I can barely speak.”

O’Brien said the rally is meant to get Encompass to hear the cleaners.

“The death and the workers being sick and the company refusing to respect the workers’ fears and feelings has created panic, and the company has responded by sending home on leave the leader, the most outspoken worker of the bunch, the one who’s supposed to be supporting other workers, so we just feel like Encompass is making a difficult situation terrible,” she said.

After seeing the 32BJ SEIU flier, students like Caleb Siguenza, senior neuroscience major, joined the march.

“I heard what they were doing to the workers, how they’re using this mystery product. I was even trying to research about it online and couldn’t really find much about it,” he said. “It seems like a cost-effective product for them, but they’re not really calculating the risk that it’s having for the janitors after they’ve expressed their discomfort with the product.”

Siguenza feels passionate about supporting the cleaners.

“They’re the backbone of everything we see. There’s trash all around every day, and I know the students don’t pick it up. Someone’s picking it up, and I think the janitors should be treated right,” he said.

Chase Pagley, senior chemistry major and president of the Chemistry Club, attended the rally with Siguenza.

“I think students should definitely be a part of this problem and cause because the students have the biggest voice,” he said.

Julian Oliver, sophomore biology major, attended the rally to show his support as well. He is concerned about potential impacts of H30.

“If it affected the janitors here, I don’t see why it can’t affect one of the students. That should not be taken lightly,” Oliver said.

Gregg McMullen, vice president of service delivery at Encompass, said H30 is essentially water with an extra oxygen molecule. H30’s safety data sheet shows a percentage of ozone that is less than .01%, the rest of the substance being water.

“It’s a misleading name. It just sounds like a proton, which can be in any chemical formula, but it’s a very specific chemical that we know is dangerous,” Pagley said.

Pagley said ozone could cause serious reactions in the body.

“H30 contains ozone, and ozone is a super unstable molecule that, when it reacts with water and oxygen in the body, forms hydrogen peroxide, which ruptures through lipid membranes in the cells, especially in the airways, which are where people are breathing it in,” he said.

Maria Ballester, professor of chemistry, said the product may cause reactions.

“[Ozone] does react with the aqueous layer, so some people may be more sensitive than others,” she said.

H30 is licensed by Encompass, so the company has exclusive rights to it within the cleaning space.

“If any cleaning company wants to use this product, they have to go through us,” said McMullen.

Mark Dickstein, an attorney who attended the rally, is a family friend of an NSU student. He said the reasons behind Encompass’ push for H30 should be examined.

“I think there’s a proper investigation that needs to be made and it looks like there are grievances that need to be addressed. I was also told that a lot of the workers here are afraid of reporting these types of conditions,” he said. “If Encompass licenses this chemical and this is their chemical and they’re looking to sell it in the open market, they stand to profit from this chemical and I would think they would need to keep things hush if that was the case. More investigation must be conducted.”

McMullen said Encompass made the switch to H30 because it is safer and more sustainable than traditional cleaning products.

“It’s our word to our customers that we provide service in the most safe and environmentally sustainable way,” he said. “The traditional chemicals are so caustic and so bad. [With H30], the only thing going down your drain is dirt and water. It’s all sustainability.”

Although NSU cannot take an official stance on the dispute between Encompass and its employees, Pagley said the school should still make a statement.

“The death of the worker happened a few weeks ago, and we’re only hearing about it now. It’s infuriating,” he said. “I think Nova should have immediately made a statement because [Nuñez] died in front of people, in front of students and coworkers, which is unacceptable. You can’t just have that happen on your campus and sweep it under the rug. It’s like treating someone like they’re not even human.”

Valdez encouraged the NSU student body to show its support for the cleaning staff as it fights against the use of H30.

“It could be affecting the students as well, and that is one of our main concerns,” Valdez said in Spanish.