The benefit will be a top priority for SEIU members in talks with cleaning contractors this winter.
Organizing drive pays off for big-box janitors with landmark first contract
February 22, 2017 by
What’s the value of a union contract? For nearly 500 retail janitors in the Twin Cities, who made history last year by forming the industry’s first metro-wide union, it’s a cool $4.5 million in wage increases and paid time off over the course of their new, three-year contract. Local 26 of the Service Employees International […]
Dave Kamper: Missed opportunity 50 years ago offers insight into labor’s current challenges
July 5, 2016 by
The Union Advocate recently reported that Local 1189 of the UFCW has rejected a so-called “final offer” in negotiations with the owners of Cub, Rainbow, Lunds & Byerly’s, and other major retail grocers in the East Metro. Notably absent from the negotiations, of course, are two of the largest grocery retailers in the Metro, Wal-Mart […]
Retail janitors win agreement with Best Buy on eve of shareholder summit
June 14, 2016 by
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, […]
White House summit lifts up Minnesota workers’ success stories
February 9, 2016 by
When President Obama called a Worker Voice Summit at the White House last October, he pledged his administration would hold regional summits across the country in 2016 to continue the conversation about common issues working people face on the job. The first of those summits took place in Minneapolis today – and with good […]
Janitors set new strike deadline, accuse cleaning contractor of wage theft
May 20, 2015 by
Janitors who clean big-box and department stores in the Twin Cities announced two key developments in their campaign for better wages and working conditions today, setting a new strike deadline and filing a class-action lawsuit to recoup wages allegedly lost to wage theft. Members of with the Twin Cities worker center CTUL took legal action […]
Picketers: Walmart’s raising wages, so why won’t Target?
March 4, 2015 by
Activists picketed outside Target Corp.’s headquarters downtown Minneapolis yesterday, calling on CEO Brian Cornell to make raising wages for frontline workers a part of the company’s massive restructuring effort. Organizers of 15 Now, a grassroots movement working to raise the minimum wage in Minneapolis, looked to pressure Target into following the lead of its primary […]
Janitors doubt they’ll benefit from retail wage hikes
February 26, 2015 by
The parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls yesterday announced it would copy Walmart’s decision to raise minimum hourly wages for U.S. workers to $9 per hour by June. But a Twin Cities-based worker center cast doubt on whether the change would benefit the low-wage workers who clean those stores. That’s because TJX Cos. contracts […]
Lawmaker calls on Target to follow Walmart’s lead, raise workers’ wages
February 24, 2015 by
After relentless pressure from workers and the community, Walmart announced last month it will raise minimum pay for its workers to $9 an hour in April and $10 an hour by February 2016. Now, one Minnesota lawmaker is calling on Minneapolis-based Target to follow Walmart’s lead. Rep. Joe Atkins, lead DFLer on the Minnesota House […]
Fight for $15 strikes: Legal, protected, effective
December 16, 2014 by
From fast food to retail, workers in low-wage jobs around the country, including Minnesota, are increasingly staging short-term, high-profile strikes to advance their movements for higher wages and a voice on the job. Walking off the job in protest is a costly, risky tactic to employ – even for one day. In addition to […]
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