WBBM: Local 1 Janitor Dedicates Chicago Marathon Race to Fellow Janitors

By AnnMarie Welser

In the 26.2 mile Bank of America race route, janitor Slawomira Chamiga will run past 173 buildings that she and her 8,000 coworkers continue to keep safe.

“It’s so beautiful to run for our family, the Union Local 1, which made me so surprised today,” said Chamiga.

SEIU Local 1 held a surprise celebration for Chamiga, their Executive Board Member. Chamiga is a 65-year-old Polish immigrant who has serviced the Chicago area for 27 years. Her fellow union members surprised her before her shift at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which is one of the hundreds of buildings serviced by Local 1 janitors downtown.

“I am grateful to have my union family and janitorial coworkers cheering me on for this race, but I too am just as amazed by them and the work they do everyday to keep Chicagoans safe,”  said Chamiga.

Local 1 janitors service over 70% of commercial office buildings in Cook County and have kept Chicago running for over 100 years. The janitorial contract impacting 8,000 Local 1 janitors is set to expire in April 2024.

“It’s everything about our city, not only other people,” said Chamiga,  “We are this city too.”

Slawomira immigrated from Poland in 1996 and created a new home for her family in Chicago. Her running story began with her husband; they were walking along the Chicago Riverwalk and after getting passed by runners, wanted to give it a go. Now she is running around the globe and plans to run in every continent. She only has two left to go.

“I have already done five continents, next week on the 15th of October is going to be my sixth continent is going to be Cape Town in South Africa,” said Chamiga.

The next race will be in Antartica, which Chamiga said that she is very excited about.

https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/janitor-dedicates-chicago-marathon-race-to-essential-workers