The actions put pressure on building owners and cleaning contractors and called attention to the fact that janitors and other workers are struggling in the current economy.
Full-time janitors make as little as $20,200 a year, before taxes, and many face thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical costs due to poor coverage or do not go to the doctor out of fear of incurring big bills, they said.
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| Janitors and supporters disrupted the "Lobby Day" meeting of the Minnesota Bankers Association Tuesday in St. Paul. |
“No more bailouts, no more greed! How much money do you need?” janitors and other protesters chanted as they walked into the Minnesota Banking Association’s annual lobby day Tuesday at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown St. Paul. The demonstrators were quickly pushed out by hotel security as TV cameras rolled.
“We are here to make ourselves heard and stand up for what all working families in Minnesota should have: eight-hour full-time jobs with good health insurance,” said Everett Spicer, a janitor at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. “Big banks like US Bancorp and Wells Fargo have a responsibility to rebuild the economy they wrecked by supporting good jobs in our community.”
US Bancorp and Wells Fargo are among the businesses cleaned by the 4,200 janitors represented by Service Employees International Union Local 26 who have been working without a contract since Jan. 8. Members have authorized their union to call a strike against ABM, Harvard, Marsden and other cleaning contractors if necessary.
The union said negotiations were scheduled Tuesday.
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| The voices of demonstrators echoed in the lobby of the Wells Fargo bank in downtown Minneapolis. |
On Monday, janitors and supporters marched through the downtown Minneapolis skyways chanting “What do we want? Green jobs!” to call attention to their focus on “Good Jobs, Green Future” in the contract bargaining.
Their chants echoed in the lobby of the Wells Fargo bank. They unfurled a large banner in the atrium of the US Bancorp building and delivered a statement to the property manager.
In two months of negotiations, cleaning contractors have repeatedly rejected proposals to use “green” cleaning products that are safer for workers, tenants, and the environment and to support transitions to day shift cleaning that could save building owners millions in energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint of hundreds of buildings, the union said.
Last week, the St. Paul City Council passed a resolution calling on all parties to negotiate in good faith and avoid a strike. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the president of the Greater Saint Paul Building Owners and Managers Association circulated a letter to the City Council criticizing the resolution and urging that it not be passed and BOMA members also emailed and called council members asking that they not vote for it.
“We already knew that the companies didn’t want to bargain in good faith, and that’s why we authorized a strike over unfair labor practices,” said Ron Johnson, a janitor in Minneapolis. “But it’s unfortunate that the Building Owners and Managers would oppose something that aims to avoid a strike. They’re the ones that pay the bills and need their buildings cleaned, so it’s odd that they would add to the dispute.”
“After years of assertions by building owners and property managers that they are innocent bystanders in our negotiations with the cleaning contractors they hire to clean their buildings, we are at least encouraged to see them admit through their actions that they are, in fact, an interested party,” said Javier Morillo-Alicea, president of SEIU Local 26. “But now we need them to step up and do their part to avoid a strike.”
For more information
See the Workday special section on the “Good Jobs, Green Future” campaign
View more videos on the SEIU Local 26 YouTube site
More photos
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The actions put pressure on building owners and cleaning contractors and called attention to the fact that janitors and other workers are struggling in the current economy.
Full-time janitors make as little as $20,200 a year, before taxes, and many face thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical costs due to poor coverage or do not go to the doctor out of fear of incurring big bills, they said.
|
| Janitors and supporters disrupted the "Lobby Day" meeting of the Minnesota Bankers Association Tuesday in St. Paul. |
“No more bailouts, no more greed! How much money do you need?” janitors and other protesters chanted as they walked into the Minnesota Banking Association’s annual lobby day Tuesday at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown St. Paul. The demonstrators were quickly pushed out by hotel security as TV cameras rolled.
“We are here to make ourselves heard and stand up for what all working families in Minnesota should have: eight-hour full-time jobs with good health insurance,” said Everett Spicer, a janitor at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. “Big banks like US Bancorp and Wells Fargo have a responsibility to rebuild the economy they wrecked by supporting good jobs in our community.”
US Bancorp and Wells Fargo are among the businesses cleaned by the 4,200 janitors represented by Service Employees International Union Local 26 who have been working without a contract since Jan. 8. Members have authorized their union to call a strike against ABM, Harvard, Marsden and other cleaning contractors if necessary.
The union said negotiations were scheduled Tuesday.
| |
| The voices of demonstrators echoed in the lobby of the Wells Fargo bank in downtown Minneapolis. |
Stepping up the pressure
On Monday, janitors and supporters marched through the downtown Minneapolis skyways chanting “What do we want? Green jobs!” to call attention to their focus on “Good Jobs, Green Future” in the contract bargaining.
Their chants echoed in the lobby of the Wells Fargo bank. They unfurled a large banner in the atrium of the US Bancorp building and delivered a statement to the property manager.
In two months of negotiations, cleaning contractors have repeatedly rejected proposals to use “green” cleaning products that are safer for workers, tenants, and the environment and to support transitions to day shift cleaning that could save building owners millions in energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint of hundreds of buildings, the union said.
Last week, the St. Paul City Council passed a resolution calling on all parties to negotiate in good faith and avoid a strike. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the president of the Greater Saint Paul Building Owners and Managers Association circulated a letter to the City Council criticizing the resolution and urging that it not be passed and BOMA members also emailed and called council members asking that they not vote for it.
“We already knew that the companies didn’t want to bargain in good faith, and that’s why we authorized a strike over unfair labor practices,” said Ron Johnson, a janitor in Minneapolis. “But it’s unfortunate that the Building Owners and Managers would oppose something that aims to avoid a strike. They’re the ones that pay the bills and need their buildings cleaned, so it’s odd that they would add to the dispute.”
“After years of assertions by building owners and property managers that they are innocent bystanders in our negotiations with the cleaning contractors they hire to clean their buildings, we are at least encouraged to see them admit through their actions that they are, in fact, an interested party,” said Javier Morillo-Alicea, president of SEIU Local 26. “But now we need them to step up and do their part to avoid a strike.”
For more information
See the Workday special section on the “Good Jobs, Green Future” campaign
View more videos on the SEIU Local 26 YouTube site
More photos