Workers of CTUL, Allies and Congressman Keith Ellison offer Target, SuperValu and Lunds & Byerly’s the opportunity to partner to ensure justice for retail cleaning workers
Minneapolis – Dozens of retail cleaning workers, representatives from union, faith and community organizations and Congressman Keith Ellison gathered today to call on Target, SuperValu and Lunds & Byerly’s to meet to establish codes of conduct ensuring fair wages and working conditions for workers cleaning their stores. A group of workers and allies also delivered the stores copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, amongst other things, guarantees every worker in the U.S. “the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity,” and “the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.”
“Many years ago at the stores I clean, some workers made up to $11 or $12 an hour. Now, the workforce has been reduced, our workload has nearly doubled and many cleaning workers are barely making minimum wage,” said Abraham Leon, a retail cleaning worker, “but it’s not just us, this problem is happening across the industry to the point where we’ve seen a slavery ring in retail cleaning uncovered in Philadelphia. If we don’t do something to ensure fair wages and working conditions now, then we are heading a hundred miles an hour down a very slippery slope.”
“Based on their reputation of social responsibility and high ethical standards, it would appear that these companies, workers and people of faith all share similar values, and we are therefore hopeful that we can work together to make a difference. People from the faith community will be watching to see how the companies react to this call,” said Adam Robinson of Workers Interfaith Network (WIN)
Jerry’s Foods, an important Cub Foods Franchise owner has responded to this call with a willingness to open a sincere dialogue with workers in regards to fair standards. “We had a very positive and productive meeting with representatives from Jerry’s Foods about how we can work together on this issue. This is an important example for the rest of the industry,” said Mario Colloly Torres, a cleaning worker with CTUL
Meanwhile, Target, SuperValu and Lunds & Byerly’s have still not responded to this opportunity to meet with workers. Emphasizing the crucial role the stores play in working conditions for retail cleaning workers, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison stated that, “There can never be any doubt that workers have the right to organize to work in fair, safe conditions…No corporation can escape their responsibility to workers by simply outsourcing that work to some other company that doesn’t observe those rights of those workers.” Representative Ellison, workers, and representatives of UFCW local 1189, Workers Interfaith Network, Jewish Community Action, and other organizations remain optimistic that these companies will come to the table.
“If, however, in the next six weeks these companies do not respond to this call, CTUL and allies will single out the retail chain where the most serious violations of human rights are being reported in the cleaning of their stores, and will lead a campaign to call on that company to meet with workers,” said Veronica Mendez, CTUL organizer.
