Window cleaners used safety harnesses to tie themselves together before engaging in an act of civil disobedience. Photo by Steve Share

Shrill whistles disturbed lunchtime in the food court at Gavidae Common in downtown Minneapolis as members and supporters of Service Employees International Union Local 26 took dramatic action to highlight the window cleaners’ calls for improved workplace safety.

The group of about 25 people blew whistles and chanted, “How many deaths does it take for window cleaners to be safe?”

They unfurled two banners, one reading “window cleaner safety now” and the other memorializing Fidel Sanchez-Flores, a window cleaner who fell to his death two years ago.

Three window cleaners put on their work harnesses and sat down in an act of civil disobedience to risk arrest. View video.

The group’s chanting and whistles continued for several minutes while Dino Crandall, Travis Schneider, and James Miller waited for security guards and police to take action. Crandall and Miller are window cleaners working for Building Maintenance / Final Touch while Schneider is a window cleaner who works for Columbia.

Marsden and Columbia locked out workers March 29 after workers raised safety concerns during contract negotiations.

“It’s a dangerous job,” Crandall said in an interview last week. “When we finally asked for the inspection reports, they said ‘go home if you don’t want to work.’”

“All right gentlemen, it’s over,” a security guard told Crandall, Schneider, and Miller as Minneapolis police moved to arrest the three and handcuff them.

Outside, about 25 supporters chanted as Crandall, Schneider and Miller were put inside a paddy wagon.

Glenn Roehsner, Minneapolis, who has worked 14 years as a window cleaner for Marsden Building Maintenance / Final Touch, addressed the media gathered at the site: “We’ve had three people die in the past two years… We are being stressed to work unsafe.”

Roehsner said Marsden and Columbia locked out workers when the workers raised safety concerns and that the companies have not agreed to further negotiations.

As the paddy wagon drove away, the crowd chanted: “What to we want? Safety! When do we want it? Now!”

One of the locked-out window cleaners participating in the event said he felt good about the day’s action. Sidronio Montoya, Minneapolis, who has worked for Marsden for about three years, said: “We want to work. We want to be safe.”

Supporters cheered the three window cleaners for taking a stand as they are led from the building to a police wagon. Photo by Rafael Morataya

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On the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation’s Facebook page

On SEIU’s Facebook page

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