| 1989 | Wesleyan subcontracts some of its cleaning services to Initial Cleaning. |
| October 1999 | 83% of the Initial janitors at Wesleyan have signed Union Authorization cards demonstrating their desire for a Union. |
| 26 November | Initial agrees to meet with the janitors, students, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 531 to do a card check and recognize the Union. |
| 29 November | Initial calls SEIU to cancel the meeting, because Wesleyan Director of Human Resources David Landsberg directed Initial Regional Vice President, Mary Ellen Weiner, to pursue a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) process that would stall the unionization effort. |
| 30 November | December 3-Approximately 1400 Wesleyan students signed a petition supporting the Initial janitors. Wesleyan's food service workers signed a similar petition. |
| 3 December | USLAC meets with President Bennet to ask why Wesleyan intervened. President Bennet says the allegations "sound off-the-wall", but he promises to investigate the issue. |
| 6 December | USLAC receives a carefully worded e-mail stating that Landsberg merely "expressed his professional opinion" and that this did not constitute intervention by Wesleyan. Also, the administration expressed its policy to receive "quality service at competitive costs in order to maximize the resources available to support our educational mission." |
| 6-10 December | Bennet receives numerous emails from faculty and students defending the workers' right to unionize. |
| 20 December | An Initial worker and two USLAC members present a petition to Bennet-written in Spanish and English and signed by more than half the workers-asking Wesleyan to stay out of unionization efforts. |
| 23 December | The Hartford Advocate publishes an article that criticizes Wesleyan's treatment of its workers. |
| 26 December | Wesleyan, presumably, gives the wink and nod to Initial, allowing Initial to agree to a card-check. The Union is recognized. |
| 11 January 2000 | The first meeting to negotiate the workers' new unionized contract is held in Danbury, CT. Initial representatives, SEIU representatives, and one Wesleyan student attend. Initial agrees to health benefits but refuses to offer a pension, paid vacations, or a living wage to the workers. |
| 20 January | The second negotiations meeting is held in Danbury. Initial does not change its position. SEIU offers a compromise wherein Initial will have 18 months rather than 12 to raise the workers to a living wage. Initial asks for time to consider the proposal. |
| 28 January | USLAC meets for the third time with Bennet to urge him to be "a moral leader" by acknowledging his responsibility to the Initial workers and by taking a stand against poverty wages. Bennet says that he will not intervene in negotiations. |
| 11 February | Initial rejects the second proposal which the Union offered on January 20 and offers a proposal which does not include a living wage or any other benefits previously demanded by the Union. |
Mid February
to present | USLAC gathers signatures from 128 faculty members for a petition that urges President Bennet to take responsibility for Wesleyan's subcontracted workers and ensure all workers on campus have a living wage and benefits. |
| 16 February | The Middletown Press publishes an article that shows how united the students, workers, and professors are to gain a living wage for the workers. |
| 18 February | USLAC sponsors a march and rally-in spite of a large snowstorm. 225 people attend. Representatives of La Casa, Ajua Campos, Students Organized Against Racism, and Ujamaa read letters to President Bennet asking him to end institutionalized racism and support a living wage. A letter from the American Studies/Latin American Studies departments is read. A delegation presents the 8 Points recommended by USLAC for a responsible Code of Conduct. The Middletown Press and the Argus publish articles on the rally/march. |
| March 2-5 | USLAC attends multiple trustee meetings during trustee weekend in order to educate trustees about the situation. On March 3, about 20 USLAC members walk into a meeting and quickly convey the urgency of the workers' concerns. On March 4, students protest so loudly outside a trustee meeting that the trustees offer USLAC three minutes on their agenda in return for quiet so that they can continue their meeting. USLAC agrees. |
| March 6 | Another negotiations meeting takes place--this time in Hartford--with virtually no progress made. Initial again refused to budge on abolishing poverty wages or giving all demanded benefits to the workers. |
