Janitors, teachers protest Kohl’s during back-to-school rush

August 23, 2016 by
Janitors and their supporters march along County Road B2 in Roseville, near Rosedale Mall.

Janitors and their supporters march along County Road B2 in Roseville, near Rosedale Mall.

 

Looking to build on recent victories at Target and Best Buy, retail janitors in the Twin Cities put the pressure on Kohl’s Saturday – during the busy back-to-school shopping season – to do right by the workers who clean its stores.

Janitors brought busloads of supporters, including union teachers, nurses and construction workers, to Kohl’s locations across the metro area Aug. 20, a day of action that culminated with a march to the Roseville store that briefly shut down traffic on County Road B2.

Kohl’s janitors, who are organizing with the Twin Cities worker center CTUL, have been pushing Kohl’s to address concerns about its Twin Cities cleaning contractor, Kimco, for more than two years. They want the retailer to join Target and Best Buy in signing onto a policy ensuring the chain’s cleaning contractors treat workers fairly.

Esteban Miranda cleans the Kohl’s in Blaine.

Esteban Miranda cleans the Kohl’s in Blaine.

Kimco employees at the march described working long hours for low wages, with no voice on the job.

Esteban Miranda, a two-year Kimco employee who cleans the Kohl’s in Blaine, earns minimum wage and receives no paid sick days or holidays. He has to work multiple jobs to help support his family of four.

“We’re fighting for a Responsible Contractor Policy so that they will listen to our voices,” Miranda said. “That’s why we’re here, and we’re going to keep up the fight.”

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Miranda during the march in Roseville were several members of St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28. SPFT President Denise Rodriguez called it a “cruel irony” that Kohl’s rakes in 15 percent of its profits during the back-to-school shopping season, while many of the janitors who clean its stores can’t afford new clothes for their children.

St. Paul Federation of Teachers Vice President Nick Faber speaks at a rally outside Kohl’s in Roseville.

St. Paul Federation of Teachers Vice President Nick Faber speaks at a rally outside Kohl’s in Roseville.

When parents work multiple jobs or lack access to earned sick and safe time, SPFT Vice President Nick Faber added, it creates barriers to success for their children.

“We see older brothers and sisters not coming to school because they have to stay home with younger siblings who are sick,” Faber said. “We see students who can’t concentrate because they’re hungry. We see students who can’t concentrate because they haven’t slept.

“Kohl’s needs to recognize the importance of their janitors in creating an inviting climate for spending money, and they should be ready to share it with those janitors.”

CTUL, a Spanish acronym for Center for Workers United in the Struggle, reached a historic agreement with Target two years ago in which the retailer agreed to do business with contractors that do not force janitors to work seven days a week, allow formation of safety committees made up of at least 50 percent workers and provide protections for workers to join a union without fear of retaliation.

Best Buy agreed to a similar policy in June.

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Kohl’s janitors plan public action during back-to-school rush

August 17, 2016 by
A delegation of retail cleaning workers approached a Twin Cities Kohl's store in May 2015 to voice concerns over working conditions maintained by the retailer's cleaning contractor.

A delegation of retail cleaning workers approached a Twin Cities Kohl’s store in May 2015 to voice concerns over working conditions maintained by the retailer’s cleaning contractor.

Looking to build on recent victories at Target and Best Buy, retail janitors in the Twin Cities will put the pressure on Kohl’s this weekend – during the busy back-to-school shopping season – to do right by the workers who clean its stores.

Janitors organizing with the Twin Cities worker center CTUL want Kohl’s to join Target and Best Buy in signing onto a responsible contractor policy, which would ensure the chain’s cleaning contractors treat workers fairly.

CTUL, a Spanish acronym for Center for Workers United in the Struggle, plans to protest outside “various stores” locally Saturday before bringing together janitors, teachers, parents, children and other supporters for a community march in Roseville. The march will begin at 3:15 p.m. at the intersection of Fairview and County Road B2, ending at the Kohl’s store on County Road B2.

[Click here to RSVP for the event on Facebook.]

Workers have been pushing Kohl’s to address concerns about its Twin Cities cleaning contractor, Kimco, for more than two years.

At a demonstration in Richfield earlier this year, two Kimco employees and CTUL activists described the conditions they face cleaning Kohl’s stores, including long hours and low wages with no voice on the job.

By contrast, in an agreement reached with CTUL two years ago, Target pledged to do business with contractors that do not force janitors to work seven days a week, allow formation of safety committees made up of at least 50 percent workers and provide protections for workers to join a union without fear of retaliation.

CTUL announced the day of action in a press release this week:

“Retail janitors organizing with CTUL will protest at Kohl’s stores in the Twin Cities during the “Back to School” season to highlight calls for Kohl’s to implement a Responsible Contractor Policy. This policy would ensure their janitorial contractor treat janitors fairly. The protests at various stores will culminate in a community march in Roseville at 3:15pm.

“For Kohl’s, Back to School season means more money. During Back to School sales, Kohl’s rakes in about 15% of their yearly profits ($673 million last year).

“But for retail janitors contracted to clean Kohl’s, Back to School season just means extra work maintaining stores during one of the busiest times of the year. Despite the hours and effort they put in, janitors who clean Kohl’s are paid poverty wages and often can’t afford to shop at Kohl’s for their own children.

“Low wages impact retail janitors’ families throughout the year. Children living in poverty are less prepared for school because their parents don’t have the resources to give them the support that all students deserve. They may go to school hungry. Their parents may work two jobs, making it impossible for them to be home and help with homework.

“This year during Back to School season, join retail janitors, educators, and students in the fight for fair wages and working conditions for all families. When parents make a living wage, their kids have a better chance of success in school.”

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Retail janitors win agreement with Best Buy on eve of shareholder summit

June 14, 2016 by
Workers celebrated outside Best Buy's corporate headquarters in Richfield this morning, hours after the company agreed to use responsible cleaning contractors inside its stores.

Workers celebrated outside Best Buy’s corporate headquarters in Richfield this morning, hours after the company agreed to use responsible cleaning contractors inside its stores.

 

A protest planned by retail janitors today outside Best Buy’s corporate headquarters turned into a celebration after executives agreed to partner with workers on efforts to ensure people who clean the company’s stores have safe and fair working conditions.

The agreement, reached late last night on the eve of Best Buy’s annual shareholder meeting, puts the Richfield-based corporation on track to join Target in implementing a Responsible Contractor Policy, organizers with the Twin Cities low-wage worker center CTUL said.

Target approved the policy two years ago, and it includes provisions ensuring a safe and fair process for workers organizing for a voice on the job. The agreement with Best Buy, according to CTUL, will ensure “a responsible janitorial contractor” cleans Best Buy stores.

Outside the shareholder meeting today, janitors and their supporters from the community praised Best Buy for doing right by workers who clean its stores.

“I’m happy that Best Buy has heard our voices and has taken a leadership role to improve the janitorial industry here in Minnesota,” said Jose Gonzalez, an employee of KBS who cleans an area Best Buy store. “I am confident that janitors who clean Best Buy will be able to begin a dialogue with our employer and improve our working conditions.”

One year ago, workers like Gonzalez banged on drums, carried signs and chanted slogans outside the annual shareholder meeting. Today, they quietly reflected on how far their campaign to raise wages and improve conditions for retail janitors – now entering its seventh year – has come.

“This news makes me very happy,” said longtime CTUL activist Maricela Flores, who cleans an area Target store as an employee of Carlson. “Today, because of our struggle to bring these injustices to light, Best Buy has listened to our petitions and is showing leadership by agreeing to contract a responsible janitorial contractor to clean their stores.”

Cleaning workers and supporters demonstrated outside Kohl's, urging the retailer to follow Best Buy's lead.

Cleaning workers and supporters demonstrated outside Kohl’s, urging the retailer to follow Best Buy’s lead.

The victory gives Flores and other workers a shot of momentum as they push other retailers to join Target and Best Buy – momentum they wasted no time putting to use.

After leaving the Best Buy campus, workers crossed the bridge over I-494 to demonstrate inside and outside a Kohl’s store. Two CTUL activists, employees of the cleaning contractor Kimco, described the conditions they face cleaning Kohl’s stores, including long hours and low wages with no voice on the job.

Workers have been pushing Kohl’s to address concerns about the cleaning contractor for more than two years.

It might not be Kohl’s, but other major retailers in the Twin Cities may be on the cusp of giving janitors less cause for protest and more cause for celebration. CTUL organizers today credited Herberger’s for taking “positive steps” toward implementing a policy similar to the one Best Buy approved.

“We hope that other stores will follow large corporations like Best Buy and Target in working to recognize the need for change in the retail janitorial field in Minnesota,” Flores said.

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Kohl’s refuses to hear from workers who keep its stores clean

May 14, 2015 by
Rosalia Morales, wearing a black sweatshirt, confronts a manager in Kohl's Roseville store about working conditions at the company's cleaning subcontractor Kimco.

Rosalia Morales, wearing a black sweatshirt, confronts a manager in Kohl’s Roseville store about working conditions at the company’s cleaning subcontractor Kimco.

 

Executives at Kohl’s had no interest today in hearing concerns about working conditions maintained by cleaning subcontractors inside their department stores – not in Roseville, and not at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Milwaukee.

That’s disappointing, workers said, given the pattern of OSHA violations recently exposed at one of Kohl’s cleaning contractors in the Twin Cities, Kimco/Eurest Services.

Kimco workers, organizing with the Twin Cities low-wage worker center CTUL, were denied entry to Kohl’s shareholder meeting despite obtaining shares of stock in the company.

“Kohl’s is treating them the same way they treated us here,” CTUL organizer Veronica Mendez told a delegation of workers and supporters who entered the Roseville store this afternoon to share their concerns, but left after a manager called the police.

CTUL-Kohls2Speaking inside the Roseville store, Kimco worker Rosalia Morales urged Kohl’s to follow Target’s lead and adopt a Responsible Contractor Policy to ensure safe conditions, fair wages and benefits for everyone working inside Kohl’s stores.

In an agreement reached with CTUL last year, Target pledged to do business with contractors that do not force janitors to work seven days a week, allow formation of safety committees made up of at least 50 percent workers and provide protections for workers to join a union without fear of retaliation.

In her 14 years with Kimco, Morales received just one 25-cent raise from the company – that is, until she and her co-workers began organizing with CTUL.

“Recently they gave me a 75-cent raise, but that’s only because of my co-workers, all of us, coming together to support each other,” Morales said through a translator.

Luul Mohamoud, a Kimco worker who cleans inside Kohl’s, explained her decision to travel to the shareholder meeting in a written statement:

As a single mother of two teenage boys, I can barely survive on $9.00 an hour and I can’t take care of our health without any paid sick days. I have suffered injuries at work that my supervisors don’t attend to. I decided to travel to Milwaukee for the Kohl’s shareholder meeting to ask their President to meet with me and my co-workers about the unfair wages and working conditions we face cleaning their stores. It’s time for Kohl’s to adopt a Responsible Contractor Policy.

CTUL’s organizing effort at Kohl’s ramped up after Kimco settled a wage-theft case with workers who supervised cleaning inside Kohl’s and other department stores in Minnesota last month. Meanwhile, the company has faced multiple OSHA violations across the country over the past six years, according to CTUL.

“Kohl’s is a corporation that holds a lot of power, the same way Target does,” Mendez said. “Target took a leadership role by entering into a Responsible Contractor Policy. Kohl’s has that same power.”

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