Target Janitors Threaten Strike: Hardworking Low Wage Americans Have Had Enough

(This strike is scheduled to happen Feb 24th, 2013!)

On Friday, The Nation labor reporter Josh Eidelson reported that approximately 150 contracted cleaning workers (janitors) who clean Target stores in Minnesota have threatened to strike if the three contractors they work for do not meet to address safety and labor law violations, as well as the firing of two workers a week after one of them appeared in a campaign video.  The non-unionized janitors, contractors for Target facilities in Minneapolis and St. Paul, are led by Twin Cities labor group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). The janitors – not employed by Target – work through three janitorial contractors: Prestige Maintenance USA, Diversified Maintenance Systems, and Carlson Building Maintenance.

Eidelson reports:

The strike threat follows a series of OSHA charges alleging that employees of those companies were denied proper safety training and legally required breaks and mealtimes, and are locked inside of Target stores, and National Labor Relations Board charges alleging that they were retaliated against for organizing. The charges and the strike threat were spearheaded by the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), a Twin Cities labor group that, as The Nation reported, has been organizing retail cleaning workers for two years.

Former employee Honorio Hernandez reported:

“At 11 at night, I would ring the doorbell to get let in, and then from there, we would be locked in the store all night, until 7 am when they opened the store. I was scared that something would happen, and I wouldn’t be able to get out of the store…. But I never complained about it because I was scared that I would lose my job.” (Source)

CTUL has been collaborating with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), whose members clean commercial offices in the Twin Cities, including Target corporate offices. According to CTUL organizer Veronica Mendez, the employees made the decision to prepare for a strike in meetings last weekend. She said that “ we’ve got a core group of really strong leaders,” and “More than likely workers will be going on strike on Tuesday.”  (Source)

“We’re looking to that as a model of how we need to stand up…” said Mendez. “We can’t wait for the companies to continue to retaliate.” She said that “workers are very isolated,” and “ we’ve been figuring out different ways that we can get workers to meet with each other one-on-one…so they can speak to each other and understand their struggle in a broader context.”

The two groups hope to win formal union recognition and collective bargaining for CTUL members. At that point, CTLM members would become members of SEIU in addition to remaining members of CTUL. Workers in both groups could go on strike simultaneously. CTUL and SEIU have set a joint strike deadline for resolution. The National Labor relations charges allege that the janitors have suffered retaliation because they’ve organized.

An emailed statement from Target spokesperson Molly Snyder stated:

“As these individuals are not employed by Target, I’d have to refer you to their employers.” (Source)

In a January interview with The Nation, Prestige’s general counsel said that the company complies with the law. Carlson and Prestige have not responded with a request for a statement about the charges, but when asked about the strike threat, Diversified General Counsel Andrea Kiehl said.

 “We have reports by employees that they feel like they are harassed by the CTUL and do not want to participate. And so it’s our feeling that the CTUL does not have as great of a support among the Diversified employees as… what they portray to the public.”

Wagering a guess, I’d say it’s likely that the employees do not want to participate for fear of losing their jobs and other retaliation. She can’t seriously mean that these people want to continue working in unsafe conditions.

When asked if Diversified would fire workers if they strike next week, Kiehl said,

“That’s not a decision that the company has made at this time. But we are committed to serving our customers, and all cleaning will continue whether we have employees that engage in the strike or not.” (Source)

Kiehl claims Diversified offers employees good benefits for full-time workers, but she was evasive when asked how many of the workers are full-time. She claims that diversified has tried to address these issues in the past.

“[...] has asked the CTUL on different occasions to provide us with information regarding what working conditions they want to discuss, and we still don’t know what those working conditions are…But Diversified does not intend to talk to CTUL about CTUL unionizing our employees. And CTUL is not an officially registered union.” (Source)

Alejejandro Quirino, Diversified Maintenance Systems employee and CTUL activist, told The Nation: 

“I guess I’d say I’m not scared because I’m fed up and sick and tired of how they’ve treated us, and how our demands have been ignored. And that’s why I’m going to go on strike. If I get fired, I know I was fighting for what’s right, and putting in what I could to fight for what’s fair.” He continued “Management told one of my co-workers that if a worker tries to strike or organize with their co-workers, they’ll be fired. The effect I want the strike to have is that they see us, as workers,” he said. “That they know that our voice counts too, that we have a right to a better salary and to better benefits, and that we have the right to organize.”

Target joins Walmart, fast-food restaurants, and even car washes in a growing list of companies nationwide whose employees are rising up against poor wages and unacceptable working conditions. These people go in, usually earning minimum wage or slightly above, and do an honest days hard work and usually receive no benefits. That in itself is bad enough, but throw in unsafe working conditions and being locked inside a building with no way out? Please. It’s too much. Working class people in America have had enough.

See video: 

 

(Note: If you cannot see the subtitles for the spanish speaking parts, watch it on Youtube. --Ilia)

via www.addictinginfo.org

Comments

[Skittles]

I'm thrilled that people are finally starting to organize and even happier that they are doing it with unions. I'm not at all surprised though, hopefully this keeps snowballing until most if not all workers at minimum wage, and similar payscale jobs are union. That will be a far bigger step towards reasonable wages and benefits than anything the government can do.

[Sarah Park]

They definitely did the right thing. Employees who have heavy jobs should be given due compensation.

[trekkiebabe]

Getting locked inside the store sounds awful, what if there was a fire? I hope the strike goes well and they get what they want. :)

[Skittles]

@trekkiebabe I'm pretty sure it is not remotely legal anyway except in very specific situations, and even then someone who is readily available must have a key or code to unlock the doors.

[Luna]

I know at my store the doors all get locked after close but you can open the employee door from the inside at anytime, it'll just set off an alarm once the LOD arms it.

[Mr. Misanthrope]

A couple of issues with this article:

"Target joins Walmart, fast-food restaurants, and even car washes in a growing list of companies nationwide whose employees are rising up against poor wages and unacceptable working conditions."

The employees were working at a Target store (as cleaners, contracted to a third party), but they weren't Target employees, and Target had no say in their pay. That was set by their company, and -- as contractors for that company -- they should be up in arms against their parent company, not Target.

Second, there will always be fire doors and emergency exits available. OSHA 1910(e) - "Means of Egress" notes the following:

1910.36(a)

Basic requirements. Exit routes must meet the following design and construction requirements:

1910.36(a)(1)

An exit route must be permanent. Each exit route must be a permanent part of the workplace.

1910.36(b)

The number of exit routes must be adequate.

1910.36(b)(1)

Two exit routes. At least two exit routes must be available in a workplace to permit prompt evacuation of employees and other building occupants during an emergency, except as allowed in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. The exit routes must be located as far away as practical from each other so that if one exit route is blocked by fire or smoke, employees can evacuate using the second exit route.

1910.36(b)(2)

More than two exit routes. More than two exit routes must be available in a workplace if the number of employees, the size of the building, its occupancy, or the arrangement of the workplace is such that all employees would not be able to evacuate safely during an emergency.

1910.36(c)

Exit discharge.

1910.36(c)(1)

Each exit discharge must lead directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside.

1910.36(d)

An exit door must be unlocked.

1910.36(d)(1)

Employees must be able to open an exit route door from the inside at all times without keys, tools, or special knowledge. A device such as a panic bar that locks only from the outside is permitted on exit discharge doors.

1910.36(d)(2)

Exit route doors must be free of any device or alarm that could restrict emergency use of the exit route if the device or alarm fails.

1910.36(d)(3)

An exit route door may be locked from the inside only in mental, penal, or correctional facilities and then only if supervisory personnel are continuously on duty and the employer has a plan to remove occupants from the facility during an emergency.

All that said, yes, I can believe that the employees were locked in the building -- much as I and my co-workers were during overnight inventory when I worked in retail -- but I know that every Target I've ever seen (indeed, every retail store in which I ever worked) had at least one emergency exit if not more.

So yes, I do think it's entirely possible that these workers are being harassed, intimidated, and underpaid by their employers, but I don't think Target was part of said harassment (&cet.), and I don't think Target would have been willing to break the law and violate OSHA guidelines by locking them into a building without a way to escape in an emergency.

[HellZoneManager]

Here's an idea... involve the police and the DA's office by filing charges of "unlawful confinement" against the employer. That should get their attention, if not fines/convictions.