Commercial janitors in Twin Cities strike for better wages, benefits
Source: Star Tribune
More than 100 janitors picketed along Nicollet Mall ahead of a Friday bargaining session.
By Ryan Faircloth
Commercial janitors walked off the job Thursday and formed a picket line in downtown Minneapolis as part of a push for higher wages and better benefits in their contracts.
More than 100 janitors represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26 rallied along Nicollet Mall, waving signs and beating drums outside the skyscrapers they clean each day. They were joined by a separate group of youth climate strikers who marched in solidarity.
The union, which represents 4,000 janitors who clean Twin Cities commercial buildings, organized the daylong strike ahead of its next bargaining session on Friday. Members are also pushing for paid sick days and a program to expand the use of nontoxic cleaning chemicals, among other things.
We are fighting today for a better tomorrow, said union Vice President Elia Starkweather, who has cleaned Ameriprise Financial headquarters in downtown Minneapolis for nine years. We are human beings. We clean garbage, but we are not garbage.
Maria Hernandez, who has been working as a commercial janitor for 19 years, chanted and walked the picket line with other SEIU Local 26 members and supporters on Thursday.
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/commercial-janitors-in-twin-cities-strike-for-better-wages-benefits/568264842/