FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2014
Contact: Greta Bergstrom, 651.336.6722, greta@takeactionminnesota.org
St. Paul, MN – TakeAction Minnesota released this statement following this afternoon’s announcement that Target Corporation has adopted a landmark new policy protecting the rights of subcontracted janitors who clean metro area stores as a result of a four-year organizing campaign led by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL):
“For four years, low-wage retail janitors of color in the Twin Cities metro area have fought a courageous battle to achieve better wages, dignity in the workplace and a healthier work environment. After four years of organizing tenacity, including strikes against cleaning company employers, marches and a year of active dialog with Target Corporation, we are proud that they have won such an important victory for workers’ rights. This victory is a testament to the strength of CTUL and their worker leaders for taking on the fight and winning important new standards that will positively shape the lives of retail cleaners and their families.
“We also applaud Target Corporation’s willingness to engage in dialog with CTUL workers and taking on a true leadership role in the retail janitorial industry. It is through this year-long discussion that such a breakthrough workers’ rights policy was born – one that will protect low-wage workers of color and their families. The new Responsible Contractor Policy is now at the forefront of changing the retail janitorial industry, significantly limiting the ability of retail cleaners from engaging in future wage theft, work overload, and unsafe working conditions.
“CTUL’s victory today is not just a breakthrough win for retail janitors in the Twin Cities, but for all low-wage workers of color fighting to determine the future of work. We congratulate CTUL for their work in this fight and encourage them to continue organizing to secure fair wages and better working conditions from other cleaning contractors across the retail industry.”
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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide people’s network of individual and organizational members working together to motivate people to act publicly in order to advance economic and racial equity in our state. The organization has offices in St. Paul, Duluth and Grand Rapids.
