The final and largest group of workers from Service Employees International Union Local 26 failed to reach an agreement with employers on a new contract over the weekend and launched a three-day strike Monday morning.
Local 26 represents 4,000 commercial janitors who clean more than 100 buildings across the metro, including office towers in downtown Minneapolis. Members had been working with an expired contract since the end of last year.
Monday’s strike started at 6 a.m. outside the Ameriprise Building at 707 2nd Ave. S. in Minneapolis. More than 50 workers gathered under nearly freezing temperatures to picket.
Alma Bonilla said she was supposed to be at work cleaning a building two blocks away but was instead standing up for her rights. She’s been a janitor for more than 15 years.
“We’re here, hopefully all our members understand we have to fight for something we earned,” Bonilla said.
Bonilla said she and others felt cold but had to be out there after the companies they work for refused to continue bargaining on Friday.
“Fifteen years ago when I got here, the word was working as a janitor was one of the best-paying jobs,” Bonilla said.
Commercial janitors are asking for raises of $5 per hour to their current wages of $18.62 per hour. Bonilla said during Friday’s bargaining session the companies offered raises of about $2.80.
A 5 p.m. rally is also planned with other groups of workers on strike in the metro.
Brahim Kone, union secretary-treasurer, said there is a new bargaining session scheduled with employers, but it’s not until Friday. He said because of that the strike could go for the three days scheduled unless an earlier meeting is called for.
“This is not something that we want to do, it’s cold out here,” Brahim said. “But we are ready and determined, we want to get a settlement and a fair contract for these workers.”
Local 26 provided members on the picket line with hand warmers, coffee and arranged a food truck to be present to hand out 300 free burritos. They also had grills set up to feed members lunch later that day.
The strike is the culmination of months of failed bargaining between the 4,000 commercial janitors and about a dozen contractors who provide janitorial staffing for downtown and other commercial office buildings.
Two other groups represented by Local 26, retail janitors and security officers, were able to reach tentative agreements Wednesday and Thursday, avoiding a strike.
Local 26 has been bargaining with employers since November, according to President Greg Nammacher. The union set a March 2 date for a coordinated labor action if the dozens of subcontractors they negotiate across work groups, including security guards, janitors and airport workers, did not reach a new contract.
Other unions are also planning labor actions this week, including nursing home workers with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and United Food and Commercial Workers 663, who plan to walk off the job Tuesday.
The St. Paul Federation of Educators is still negotiating for a new contract, and has set a strike date of Monday, March 11.
Minneapolis trash haulers
About 400 Minneapolis public workers employees could also walk off the job this week. The group, represented by Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 663 has authorized a strike but not set a date.
Their intent to strike notice filed with the state says members could walk off between Tuesday, March 5, and March 25.
LIUNA Local 363 members include those who work in sewage, trash, recycling, lighting, roads, and bridges.
