Support Twin Cities janitors on Wednesday (12-30-09)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4290

22 December 2009
MINNEAPOLIS - Twin Cities janitors, fighting to maintain full-time jobs and to institute “green job” practices, will hold a solidarity demonstration Wednesday, Dec. 30, in downtown Minneapolis.
Participants are asked to gather at 11:30 a.m. at the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 S. 6th St., for a march through the skyway system.

More than 4,000 janitors, who clean office buildings, malls and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, are in contract negotiations with cleaning contractors. The employers are insisting on a number of givebacks, according to Service Employees International Union Local 26. The concessions include giving employers the right to convert many full-time jobs to part-time, the right to eliminate workload protections and the right to deny union representatives access to worksites.

At the same time they face concessionary demands, janitors are seeking to improve working conditions – and save energy and protect the environment – by instituting “green job” practices. These include more day shifts – to reduce lighting and heating costs and allow members to be with their families – and the use of safer chemicals.

“Please stand with us at a march on Dec. 30 to show the downtown business owners what kind of jobs we want: Good, full-time, green jobs in the new economy!” said Keyla Kahl, a member of Local 26.

Supporters also plan a Solidarity Committee meeting Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Labor Center, 312 Central Ave., Suite 356. For more information, contact Steve Payne, 612-331-8336 x 26.