Share
Educators will rally Thursday night and retail janitors plan to strike Friday to make their voices heard as Donald Trump is inaugurated as president of the United States.
The Thursday rally will run from 3:45 to 6 p.m. at LEAP High School, 631 Albert St. N, St. Paul. It is sponsored by the St. Paul Federation of Teachers.
“On Jan. 19, right before Inauguration Day, we will stand up as educators, students, and community members with our allies across the country to protect our students and our public schools,” the union announced. “Join the St. Paul Federation of Teachers for a rally and a march to demand the city of Saint Paul and Saint Paul Public Schools loudly and clearly proclaim themselves sanctuaries for our students and their families and commit to funding our public schools.”
The solidarity rally will be held at LEAP High School to greet students as they are leaving school, organizers said. As an alternative high school, LEAP enrolls immigrants and other students who are new to the city. Get more information and RSVP on Facebook.
On Friday, janitors who clean Home Depot stores in the Twin Cities will go on strike against their cleaning contractor. The workers are members of a Twin Cities-based worker center, CTUL, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha/Center of Workers United in Struggle.
The walkout will start at 5:30am at The Quarry, 1520 New Brighton Blvd, Minneapolis.
“The two founders of Home Depot have donated millions of dollars to Trump and one of Home Depot’s major investors supports Trump,” organizers said. “Home Depot uses the Trump model of business for its janitorial services: using subcontractors that hire immigrant workers and sometimes face lawsuits for wage theft.
“Janitors who clean Home Depot are paid poverty wages by their subcontractor and have been organizing for years to win fair wages and the right to form a union without retaliation. If Trump has his way, these worker’s wages will go even lower – as Trump told the country in November 2016, ‘wages are too high.’”
Get more information and RSVP on Facebook.
A massive Women’s March also is planned for Saturday to coincide with the inaugural.
While the main march will be in Washington, D.C., hundreds are set for communities across the country and even in other nations. In Minnesota, marchers will go to the state Capitol in St. Paul for a noon rally.
Get more information and RSVP on Facebook.