Elected officials support ‘Justice for Janitors’

This week, the St. Paul City Council passed a resolution calling upon building maintenance companies and major employers to bargain in good faith with Service Employees International Union Local 26, which represents 4,200 janitors whose contract with cleaning companies expires Dec. 31.

Newly elected state Senator Patricia Torres Ray, DFL-Minneapolis, joined the janitors at a lunchtime demonstration Thursday in the Minneapolis skyways.

Both the council members and Torres Ray said it\’s important that the janitors achieve affordable, accessible health care in their new contract. The council, in its resolution, noted, "Janitors who do not have access to health insurance through their employers are forced to rely on state-subsidized care or forego coverage altogether, creating serious consequences for taxpayers, the over-burdened public medical system and our community as a whole."

The janitors are cleaning the offices of some of the wealthiest corporations in Minnesota, such as Target.

"The Target Corp., in 25 minutes, they make enough to pay for all of your health care and more," Torres Ray told workers at Thursday\’s demonstration. "We need to hold them accountable."

She pledged her support for the workers, saying, "I want you to know I will be with you everyday, here and in the Senate."

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State Senator Patricia Torres Ray (left) greeted workers at a downtown Minneapolis rally, then joined them in a walk through the skyways.
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Three negotiations sessions are scheduled next week between Local 26 and the cleaning contractors, the union said. Progress has been made on non-economic issues, but big stumbling blocks remain. The union is seeking affordable family health coverage for all its members and wants to maintain full-time jobs.

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"The employer wants to take us backwards,\’ said Local 26 Program Director Greg Nammacher. "They want to get rid of full-time jobs and make us all part-time."

Labor and management have reached tentative agreements on accommodations for Muslim employees and others who need the opportunity to pray during work time, Nammacher said. The union also has won language providing worker protections when questions are raised about documentation. Many of the Local 26 members are recent immigrants, primarily from Latin America and Somalia.

Local 26 members and supporters gathered at the Hennepin County Government Center for a walk through the skyways, their fourth demonstration in recent weeks as contract talks continue.

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