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As negotiations between union janitors and Twin Cities cleaning contractors continued, a diverse group of union leaders renewed their pledge to stand with janitors in a potential second strike, which could come as early as Monday.
Union leaders also linked the janitors’ campaign for a fair contract – with a $15 minimum wage, decent health benefits and safe workloads – to the fight against deepening economic disparities between white workers and workers of color.
“We’re working hard to address the inequities in our communities, and it all starts with a powerful voice for workers,” Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation President Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou said. “These workers are diverse, they are courageous and they are willing to stand up for a fair contract.”
Brahim Kone, who cleans offices in downtown St. Paul and serves on the union’s bargaining team, said about 90 percent of janitors in Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union are people of color. He called the contract campaign part of a broader effort to “raise up all people in this boat, all people in this community.”
Kone and others spoke at a press conference today co-hosted by the Minneapolis RLF and its People of Color Union Member Caucus, which recently welcomed the AFL-CIO’s National Commission on Racial and Economic Justice to Minneapolis for a discussion of inequities, their causes and the role unions can play in addressing them.
“If contractors want a strike, they’ll have one. And we’ll all support the janitors,” St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper said.
“Minnesota houses some of the wealthiest corporations in this country, and yet we have some of the biggest racial disparities,” POCUM activist Cathy Jones, a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said. “We’re going to start putting a stop to that, and we’re going to start here today by standing in solidarity with our allies.”
Kone said the support wasn’t going unnoticed by Local 26 members.
“This fight has been one of the toughest, roughest and most brutal fights of our local’s history,” he said. “In these crucial moments, any love we get from our brothers and sisters in other unions is more than welcome.”
Janitors, who went on a one-day strike last month, have warned they will stage a second, open-ended strike if no agreement is reached by Monday.