Janitors charge ABM Janitorial Services with racial discrimination

In recent months, ABM sought the assistance of Emerge Staffing to find new employees for numerous vacancies. Emerge is a non-profit organization in North Minneapolis that provides workforce training and job placement for mostly African American and East African, low-income and at-risk people seeking work.

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The charges allege that ABM pays African Americans and African immigrants less than their co-workers, and keeps them trapped in a temporary status.

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“I have worked full-time for ABM for three months now, and I am paid $2.72 less per hour than my co-workers that were not hired through Emerge,” said Keyla Kahl, an ABM janitor at the Capella Tower in downtown Minneapolis. “They keep telling us that we will be made permanent employees, but they always hire other people instead.”

The charges also include testimony of witnesses to racially discriminatory comments from an ABM supervisor who continues to work in the same building even after the comments were brought to the attention of ABM management.

“The ABM supervisor at my building told us that he didn’t want black people working here, and that’s just wrong,” said Oscar Carranza, an ABM janitor at Ameriprise Financial in downtown Minneapolis. “I think it’s wrong that ABM is paying some janitors less than the rest of us. We all do the same job.”

“We have no problem with ABM or any of our employers working with organizations like Emerge whose mission is to improve the lives of Minnesotans,” said Javier Morillo-Alicea, president of Service Employees International Union Local 26, which represents ABM workers. “But ABM cannot pay them less because of who they are or what neighborhood they come from. Equal work deserves equal pay.”

“As workers, we refuse to allow an employer to divide our communities,” said Harrison Bullard, president of the Minnesota Chapter of the SEIU African American Caucus. “Our job as a union is to raise standards for all workers and to fight against any attempt by an employer to divide us.”

Local 26 is currently engaged in contract negotiations with ABM and other Twin Cities cleaning companies.

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