‘Let the Bosses Clean their Toilets’

4,000 commercial janitors represented by SEIU Local 26 begin their ULP strike starting the second shift on Thursday, February 27th. Striking janitors took to the streets of Downtown Minneapolis on Thursday evening and held a protest at MSP airport Friday morning before returning to bargaining.

The commercial janitors are part of the 8,000 members of SEIU Local 26 who are subcontracted to clean and protect buildings in the Twin Cities. The janitorial workers are employed by over a dozen different subcontractors like ABM & Marsden to clean corporate buildings like IDS, Capella Tower, EcoLab, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, United Health Group, Ameriprise and many more across the Twin Cities.

The group unanimously voted Feb. 8th to authorize a ULP strike to stop the companies’ alleged Unfair Labor Practices. The union argues that the companies have been stalling, refusing to give information and to settle a fair contract.

Filiberto Nolasco Gomez is a former union organizer and former editor of Minneapolis based Workday Minnesota, the first online labor news publication in the state. Filiberto focused on longform and investigative journalism. He has covered topics including prison labor, labor trafficking, and union fights in the Twin Cities.