Tentative Deal In L.A. Janitors Strike

The union representing striking janitors reached a tentative contract agreement Saturday night with 18 cleaning companies, negotiators for both sides said.

However, the 8,500 janitors will continue their nearly three-week-old walkout until they vote on the proposed deal Monday, union President Mike Garcia said.

CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes earlier reported that the custodial workers were asking for a dollar-an-hour raise for the next three years for the mostly female and immigrant workforce.

Currently, the starting wage for a janitor is seven dollars an hour:

The job action at one point threatened to spread to other cities, like Chicago, New York, Cleveland and Seattle.

The strike is part a new strategy by the 200,000-member Service Employees International Union to negotiate contracts that expire nationwide at the same time.

"This is a much larger fight. If labor's going to turn around its decline these are the workers that need to be organized," said union organizer Mike Garcia. "This is the fight that's going to rebuild the labor movement."