Retail janitors pledge strikes will continue until conditions improve

February 18, 2016 by

web.CTUL-strikeA day after union janitors walked off the job in an unfair-labor-practices strike, non-union janitors organizing with the Twin Cities-based worker center CTUL did the same, picketing early this morning outside Macy’s on the Nicollet Mall.

It marked the seventh time in the last three years CTUL janitors, who clean big-box stores, car dealerships and other retail properties, have gone on strike to protest low pay, backbreaking conditions and rampant wage theft in the industry.

Luciano Balbuena, who cleans an area Home Depot, said the strikes would continue until cleaning contractors engage in a meaningful dialogue with workers about their concerns.

“We have been demanding from our companies for some time to respect what we’re asking for, and they refuse,” Balbuena, an employee of the cleaning contractor Kimco, told supporters on the picket line. “I hope this strike is the last we’ll have to have, and we will win fair wages and working conditions.”

Organizing through CTUL, a Spanish acronym for “Center of Workers United in Struggle,” has led to significant victories for retail janitors in the past, including a Responsible Contractor Agreement with Target that sets scheduling, safety and other standards the retailer’s Twin Cities cleaning contractors must meet.

And earlier this week, CTUL janitors who cleaned Macy’s and Herberger’s stores won $425,000 in unpaid wages and damages after settling a class-action lawsuit against Capital Building Services Group.

The back-pay is welcome, CTUL member Jesus Sanchez said, but it shouldn’t take a lawsuit for janitors to get paid for the hours they work.

“Wage theft is an all too common problem for retail janitors,” Sanchez said. “We don’t need a band-aid. We need a cure. And that cure is a voice on the job, union rights and $15 an hour.”

Demonstrators take over an intersection in downtown Minneapolis during morning rush hour.
Striking CTUL member Luciano Balbuena: “I hope this strike is the last strike we will have to have.”
CTUL strikers on the picket line outside Macy’s in downtown Minneapolis.
Striking janitors and their supporters prepare to march.

After walking the picket line for nearly two hours before dawn, striking janitors from CTUL and SEIU Local 26 marched alongside allies in the labor, faith and progressive community, blocking traffic at several downtown intersections during rush hour.

Protesters called on corporations to do their part in addressing Minnesota’s racial and economic disparities – among the most glaring in the nation.

“While Minnesota houses some of the wealthiest corporations in the country it also houses some of the worst racial and economic disparities in the nation,” said Donna Cassutt, Director of Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, which organized the march. “Minnesota’s largest corporations harm communities of color when they pay poverty wages, don’t invest in our schools by paying their fair share and practice toxic banking practices that pollute our environment and extract wealth from our communities.

“These corporations have the ability to powerfully impact our communities if they stand up and do the right thing by paying a living wage.”

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Striking janitors: ‘We do the dirty work, we deserve a better wage’

February 17, 2016 by

web.Local26-strike.msp1

Union janitors are setting up picket lines across the Twin Cities today, raising the stakes in their fight to win a $15 minimum wage and address alarming workload issues.

The one-day strike over unfair labor practices will impact nearly 200 office buildings in the area before the day is done, according to Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 4,000 janitors in contract negotiations.

Although employed by several different cleaning contractors, members of Local 26 work inside the offices of the state’s corporate elite, including Medtronic, U.S. Bank, 3M and United Health Group.

The day’s first picket line popped up at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Janitors marched and chanted slogans in several languages outside the drop-off area at Terminal 1.

Terry Groce, third from left, walks the picket line with other MSP Airport janitors.

Terry Groce, third from left, walks the picket line with other MSP Airport janitors.

Terry Groce, whose duties include waxing floors and separating compostable waste from garbage, said his wages haven’t kept pace with his ever-increasing workload during the two years he’s worked at MSP.

“We do more than people see to make the airport look good,” said Groce, who earns $14.80 per hour. “We do the dirty work. We work with chemicals. We work hard, and we deserve a better wage.”

Groce isn’t the only janitor being asked to do more without getting paid more. Reductions in the Twin Cities’ janitorial workforce over the last decade have created dangerous, backbreaking conditions in the industry, with many janitors cleaning the equivalent of 20 homes in one night on the job, according to a report released last month.

It’s dangerous work, too. Building-cleaning and maintenance occupations had the highest rate of lost time due to work-related injury or illness in Minnesota during 2014.

Janitors are seeking several gains in contract negotiations to remedy the workload crisis, including a greater voice over staffing levels and safety procedures, in addition to wages and health benefits that reflect the work’s dangerous and stressful nature.

Union janitors walk a picket line outside the Securian building in downtown St. Paul.

Union janitors walk a picket line outside the Securian building in downtown St. Paul.

Brahim Kone, who cleans the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ offices in St. Paul, said Local 26’s previous contract included language stipulating that employers would not put “unreasonable” workload demands on janitors.

“But what’s unreasonable?” asked Kone, a Maplewood resident who has worked as a janitor for the last 15 years.

“We need the language to be something solid, something specific. Otherwise the (contractors) will just keep increasing and increasing and increasing. I’ve seen it over and over again.”

Janitors’ previous contract expired at the end of 2015, and talks between to the two sides began in October 2015. According to the union, cleaning contractors have refused to address the workload crisis, instead offering a contract that would leave nearly half of the union’s members earning below $15.

Negotiations are scheduled to resume Monday.

“We’re out here showing the bosses that we’re serious, that we want them to do the right thing,” Kone said.

Non-union janitors in the Twin Cities, members of the worker center CTUL, plan a strike of their own tomorrow.

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Twin Cities security officers announce tentative agreement with $15 guarantee

February 4, 2016 by

6140_243260025396_243259240396_7984825_6002954_n_400x400Most union security officers in the Twin Cities will earn at least $15 per hour – and future officers will be on track to do the same – under the terms of a tentative contract agreement struck late last night, according to union leaders.

Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 2,000 security officers in the metro area, called the tentative agreement “groundbreaking” in a press release today.

In addition to “substantial raises” that would move most officers up to a minimum wage of $15, the new contract would provide officers with more sick days and lower health care costs for family coverage. The agreement also achieves greater equity between working conditions in suburban and downtown shops.

Members will take a ratification vote on the proposed contract in the coming weeks. If approved, the security guards’ contract would continue a trend of Minnesota unions taking up the demands of the so-called “Fight for $15” in contract negotiations.

Local 26 also represents 4,000 janitors in negotiations with Twin Cities cleaning contractors. They voted last month to authorize their representatives to call a strike if necessary.

Here’s the full release:

Twin Cities security officers with SEIU Local 26 reached a tentative agreement for a ground-breaking new contract late Wednesday night. All current officers will achieve a minimum of $15 an hour wage and all future officers will be on a path to do the same. The contract also won more sick days, an improvement in healthcare cost for families and for the first time ever combines the Suburban and Downtown contracts to create more equity. The agreement would give substantial raises over the course of the contract for all of the over 2,000 security officers who protect buildings around the Twin Cities that house some of the most prominent and wealthy corporations in the country. Members will vote to ratify the contract in the next few weeks. The agreement comes as the janitors with SEIU Local 26 have voted to authorize a strike if a fair contract is not reached for the 4,000 janitors represented by the union.

James Matias, a security officer and SEIU Local 26 Executive Board member from St. Paul who was on the bargaining committee, saw firsthand how officers in the union stood together to win this pioneering contract.

“Security officers in the Twin Cities fought hard for this contract, and are proud that we have won such an impressive victory for thousands of working families. Some security officers are currently at $10 an hour, so a jump to $15 by the end of the contract will result in a 50% pay increase, which will be a huge change,” said Matias, who lives in St. Paul with his wife and kids. “We fought to make sure that all workers in our union are given the chance to have the pay and benefits that ensure we can support our families. We won gains for all members, but we remained unified that everyone should have the basic dignity of fair pay for their hard work. In an area as wealthy as the Twin Cities, as we protect some of the most affluent businesses in the world, all working people should be able to provide for their families. This contract is a huge step in the right direction and we are now ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with janitors and other workers in their fight.”

The agreement comes just over a week from the strike deadline set by Twin Cities janitors who are also represented by SEIU Local 26. Unlike security officers, employers on the janitorial side have stalled, delayed and intimidated workers fighting for a fair agreement, which lead to the January 23rd unfair labor practice (ULP) strike authorization vote. The janitorial bargaining committee set a Feb 14th strike deadline for a fair contract. If there is not a fair contract by that date, the committee could call an ULP strike at any point.

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MSP airport workers keep up fight for $15, union

August 18, 2015 by
Workers demonstrate outside Terminal 1 at MSP Airport. (photo courtesy SEIU Minnesota)

Workers demonstrate outside Terminal 1 at MSP Airport. (photo courtesy SEIU Minnesota)

Backed by supporters from the community, airport workers kept up their public campaign for $15 per hour and a union, rallying Saturday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

“We work hard to make sure that the airport runs smoothly — even when it’s freezing cold or during the busy holidays — to make sure that Minnesotans can see their families and do their business,” MSP cart driver Abdi Ali said. “Although we like our jobs, we don’t get the pay that we deserve.”

MSP workers’ organizing efforts, supported by Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union and 15 Now Minnesota, already have led to victories. Earlier this year the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) responded to workers by passing a paid sick policy and raising the airport’s minimum wage to $1 above the state’s.

But workers like Ali said they remain committed to ending poverty wages and improving working conditions at MSP to ensure a safe, secure and stable airport for both passengers and workers.

“Each day new workers quit their jobs at the airport because they found a better job,” Ali said. “That means each new person gets a badge. If we want to be serious about security, we need to have jobs that keep the best workers at the job, and doesn’t have a constant turnover of employees and security badges.”

Hundreds of workers and community supporters who share Ali’s concerns signed a petition presented to MAC Commissioner Erica Prosser during the rally Saturday. Prosser pledged to make sure they were delivered to the MAC chair.

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In nod to organizing efforts, Dayton appoints AirServ worker to MAC

February 16, 2015 by
Airport workers and their supporters march outside Terminal 1 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during a week of action targeting low-wage employers.

Airport workers and their supporters marched outside Terminal 1 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where organizing efforts have focused on raising wages.

Low-wage workers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport now have a voice on the airport’s governing body, thanks to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton.

Last week Dayton filled two vacancies on the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns MSP and six smaller airports in the Metro. One of Dayton’s appointees, Ibrahim Mohamed, works as a cart driver for AirServ, a subcontractor that handles passenger services for Delta Air Lines. He earns the state’s minimum wage, $8 per hour.

Mohamed, a Rosemount resident who has worked at MSP Airport for 11 years, is the first Somali-American to serve on the MAC.

Dayton’ other appointee, Dixie Hoard, is a former Northwest and Delta flight attendant from Thief River Falls. Hoard and Mohamed will participate in their first MAC meeting tomorrow.

Mohamed has been active in efforts to improve AirServ workers’ wages and working conditions by organizing a union, a campaign supported by Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union. SEIU Local 26 announced Mohamed’s appointment in a press release today.

“I am excited to bring the voices of the people that I speak to on a daily basis to the MAC,” Mohamed said via the press release. “In my current position as a cart driver, I speak with hundreds of elderly and disabled passengers each day. I hear about their time in MSP and am the first line of response to help.

“I am excited about this opportunity to serve and to be a leader in connecting new communities to the important work of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.”

In addition to working as a cart driver, Mohamed has served as a baggage runner, ticket verifier and in lavatory and water services. His range of experience, he said, will allow him to serve the residents of his district and be a voice for the workers on the front lines.

“I will work to make sure that workers at the airport are part of the conversations at the MAC, because when workers have fair pay, decent benefits and a reliable schedule, we are able to provide world-class service to passengers,” Mohamed said. “I will continue to stand together with my fellow co-workers as we fight for dignity and respect for all workers at MSP, and will always fight to make sure the needs and concerns of workers and passengers are part of all decisions made by the MAC.”

MSP Airport has been a hotbed of organizing activity in recent months. SEIU Local 26’s organizing campaign is operating in concert with a campaign to raise the airport’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. And more than 20,000 flight attendants at Delta, which uses MSP as a hub for its operations, are poised to vote soon on whether to join the International Association of Machinists.

Local 26 President Javier Morillo said Mohamed will be a strong advocate for workers in his new role.

“We applaud Governor Dayton for insisting that a worker be represented on the MAC, and appointing a great candidate like Ibrahim Mohamed,” Morillo said. “I am excited to see Ibrahim continue the work he has always done fighting to make the MSP airport the best airport it can possibly be for both employees and passengers.”

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UPDATE: Airserv reverses pay stub policy after receiving workers’ petition

February 6, 2015 by
Airserv workers deliver a petition to a representative of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Airserv workers deliver a petition to a representative of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

After receiving a petition signed by 225 employees based at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, managers at Airserv agreed last month to provide its workers with paper copies of their paycheck stubs.

It was a small victory, but another step forward for a growing number of workers joining together to improve wages and working conditions at MSP Airport. [In December, workers cheered the Metropolitan Airports Commission’s decision to require airport employers to offer workers paid sick days.]

But Airserv worker Darcy Landau, who is active in efforts to organize a union, said the company refused to acknowledge the workers’ petition as a factor in its decision to reverse the pay stub policy.

Darcy Landau

Darcy Landau

“They say they did it for different reasons,” Landau said of Airserv management. “It is a victory for us, but they want to take the credit.”

After Airserv switched to an electronic payroll system, with paycheck information available only via a website, many workers reported trouble loading the site, and others said they lack the skills or resources necessary to get online.

Workers remain concerned about Airserv’s increased use of standby and “flex” scheduling, Landau said.

“This whole economy is based on 40 hours a week, and they won’t give us our 40 hours per week,” he said. “And customer service suffers because of it.”

SEIU Local 26 is supporting MSP-based Airserv workers’ efforts to organize a union.

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Airserv workers take on company’s ‘standby’ scheduling

January 15, 2015 by
Airserv workers deliver a petition to a representative of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Airserv workers deliver their petition to a representative of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Suado Gabo, a wheelchair agent at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, arrives at work not knowing if she’ll be sent home midway through her scheduled shift. And on her way out the door, Gabo checks to see if her employer, Airserv, has picked up her “standby” days later in the week.

Airserv’s new scheduling practices have riled airport workers like Gabo, whose paycheck shrunk by about 25 percent as a result of the changes. And while she spends fewer hours on the clock, Gabo must remain available to work on “standby” days, making it difficult to recoup lost wages with a second job.

“I go home every day and think, what am I going to do if there’s no work tomorrow?” Gabo said. “I just want to work.”

Gabo was among more than 20 Airserv workers who registered their frustrations with the company’s new scheduling practices during a rally inside Terminal 1 at MSP today.

Wheelchair agent Darcy Landau said he used to work 40 hours per week, but now works just 20 hours, “if not one day,” per week.

“Every single week you’ve got to check if you’re working or not working,” Airserv worker Randa Jama added. “It’s crazy.”

A petition signed by 225 workers calls on Airserv to provide hard copies of workers' paycheck stubs.

A petition signed by 225 workers calls on Airserv to provide hard copies of workers’ paycheck stubs.

Joined by workers from other airport employers, including fired Delta baggage handler Kip Hedges, Airserv employees delivered a petition with 225 signatures to their managers and the Metropolitan Airports Commission. The petition calls on Airserv to meet with workers about their scheduling complaints and to give workers paper copies of their paycheck stubs, so that they can ensure they’re being paid in full.

Airserv recently switched to an electronic payroll system, with paycheck information available only via a website. But many workers reported trouble loading the site, and others said they lack the skills or resources necessary to get online.

The rally at MSP echoed worker-led protests at airports across the country, timed to mark the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hundreds of workers in New York briefly blocked access to LaGuardia Airport, calling for higher wages.

Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union is supporting Airserv workers in efforts to organize a union. Many of the workers who participated in the rally also are active in the “Fight for $15” campaign to establish a $15 minimum wage at MSP.

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Airport workers rally behind Delta baggage handler fired for activism

December 5, 2014 by
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison speaks in support of fired Delta baggage handler Kip Hedges (blue coat) at a rally at MSP Airport.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison speaks in support of fired Delta baggage handler Kip Hedges (blue coat) during a rally at MSP Airport.

Airport workers, union members and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison today called on Delta Air Lines to reinstate Kip Hedges, a pro-union activist fired just days ago for speaking publicly in favor of a $15 minimum wage at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

About 200 people joined the demonstration outside Termainal 1 at MSP Airport. They shut down the terminal’s Upper Level Roadway before being ordered by police to disperse.

Originally planned as part of the Black Friday Week of Action that also included Walmart and fast-food strikes, the airport protest became an outlet for activists and co-workers outraged at Hedges’ dismissal. Protesters carried signs and joined chants urging Delta to “bring Kip back.”

Hedges, a baggage handler and 26-year airline employee, told Workday Minnesota that Delta management issued the termination after citing comments he made in a video supporting of the “15 Now” campaign for a higher airport minimum wage.

In this video from today’s protest, Hedges recounts what he said about Delta, as his supporters echo his statement.

“In spite of being fired by Delta, I don’t plan to stop speaking out about low-wage workers at Delta, or the issue of unionizing,” Hedges said. “In the past two days, I’ve received massive support from my co-workers, from brother and sister flight attendants at Delta, the International Association of Machinists and the labor movement in Minnesota. This is the kind of force that it will take to win $15 at MSP, and it’s the kind of spirit that will lead to unionizing Air Serv and Delta ramp workers.”

About 200 people joined the march along outside the upper level of Terminal 1, calling for $15 wages and union rights.

About 200 people joined the march along outside the upper level of Terminal 1, calling for $15 wages and union rights.

Meanwhile, passenger-support workers at MSP, employed by contractors like AirServ, said Delta’s effort to silence Hedges would not keep them from working for a $15 minimum wage and a union.

“I do important work at the Airport for other peoples families,” said Randa Jama, a mother of two who works as a wheelchair assistant for AirServ. “I wish AirServ would support my kids the way I help Delta passengers and unaccompanied minors.”

Ellison, a DFLer from Minneapolis, called on Delta to reinstate Hedges. He also encouraged passenger-support workers’ to continue their organizing campaign.

“We can go a day, a week, a month without the CEO of Delta. We actually don’t need him,” Ellison said. “But you try to go even a short period of time without the cleaners or the drivers or the baggage handlers, and this whole place stops.

“You deserve respect, and you must be paid fairly.”

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Airport workers confront Delta CEO during Minneapolis luncheon

September 25, 2014 by

Three workers interrupted Delta CEO Richard Anderson’s speech before a Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday in Minneapolis. They questioned why Anderson’s salary increased to over $14 million last year, while workers who assist Delta passengers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport struggle to make ends meet.

“Mr. Anderson, Delta is making record profits, yet wheelchair agents who transport Delta passengers are paid minimum wage,” said Darcy Landau, a military veteran from St. Paul who works as a wheelchair agent at MSP. “We can barely survive. Will airport workers ever share in this growth?”

Video footage, taken by Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, shows Landau and other workers being escorted out of the banquet room after interrupting Anderson’s speech.

Landau and other workers have been attempting to organize with SEIU Local 26 for the last few years. They do not work directly for Delta, but for subcontractors that handle the airlines’ passenger-service responsibilities at MSP.

Delta reported profits of $2.7 billion in 2013, but those record earnings have yet to trickle down into passenger-service workers’ paychecks. Outside of the luncheon, workers and supporters held a sign reading “Record Profits for Delta, Poverty Wages for Workers.”

Abera Siyoum, an AirServ cart driver at MSP, asked Anderson about a comment made by the CEO in reference to the corporation’s record success in 2013.

“Mr. Anderson, you said in the news that ‘across the board 2013 was an outstanding year,’ yet since I must work 70 hours a week to survive I hardly get to see my children,” said Siyoum, who works two jobs to support his wife and two children. “Do you think my family is as happy about Delta’s profits as you are?”

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Minnesota AFL-CIO adds to staff

July 16, 2014 by

mnaflcioThe state’s largest labor federation, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, hired Todd Dahlstrom as director of organizing and growth and Bill Breon as coordinator of the Path to Power program this month.

Path to Power is the state federation’s new effort to support union members running for public office, ensuring that working Minnesotans have more voice in local government affairs.

“Local governments make decisions that affect union members every day,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson said. “That’s why Minnesotans need more union members to running for and serving in public office.”

Prior to joining the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Breon did issue-based organizing for affordable housing, renewable energy, and marriage equality. He has worked for the city of Minneapolis and taken part in well over a dozen municipal elections in the last ten years.

Dahlstrom, a St. Paul resident, will assist the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s affiliate unions in extending union membership to more working Minnesotans.

“Minnesota’s unions are increasingly hearing from workers who want a voice at work and have asked their state federation to provide support in organizing efforts,” Knutson said.

Dahlstrom worked for 10 years as lead organizer of Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union.

“Minnesota unions are stepping up in their organizing efforts to improve the lives of working Minnesotans, and I’m excited to support their work,” Dahlstrom said.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO is the state’s largest labor federation, representing more than 300,000 members of 1,000-plus local unions across the state.

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