Good jobs, green future: Twin Cities janitors launch green cleaning campaign

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4266

6 December 2009

MINNEAPOLIS - Hundreds of Twin Cities janitors — joined by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Congressman Keith Ellison — kicked off their contract campaign with a call to “make green cleaning a reality.”

Service Employees International Union Local 26, which represents more than 4,000 janitors who clean the majority of office buildings in the seven-country metropolitan area, is preparing to bargain a new contract with all major janitorial contractors in the market.


Javier Morillo Alicea

“With our economy in a recession, we all need to think about ways to make our work smarter,” said Javier Morillo Alicea, president of Local 26. “We want to help make this industry part of our new green economy by increasing the use of green cleaning products with safer chemicals, recycling more trash, and supporting the transition to day-shift cleaning that can reduce energy use and reduce the carbon footprint of hundreds of buildings in our region."



Day shift cleaning is a growing trend in the cleaning industry; it can reduce energy use by up to eight percent and leads to better client satisfaction with a stable, well-trained cleaning staff, the union said. And while safer, “green” chemicals are now available at little or no additional cost, there is still pervasive use of more dangerous, conventional cleaning products. In a recent member survey conducted by SEIU Local 26, over one-third of janitors reported chemicals sometimes or often irritate their eyes or skin.

“We are happy to have an opportunity to make our jobs green, but we also want to make sure they are stable, 8-hour full-time jobs that can support our families,” said Marie Flores, a janitor at Travelers in Saint Paul and a member of Local 26.

FULL story at link.

[Cha]

1. Super Green..we're getting out of the growing pains

of Greening America to seeing GREEN in the most unusual places!

Thanks, Steve, for your dedication in bringing labor news to DU.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Good luck to them all.