No time for tea; Minnesota janitors stand together to win new contract and improve community

:applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

Most American workers don’t have time for tea parties, or any other kind of party for that matter. They’re busy raising families, making a living as they hope and work for a better day. In Minnesota, janitors showed the way as they demonstrated the old working class axiom: Don’t Mourn; Organize!. They know that a rising tide lifts all boats; but only if that tide is bolstered by a union undercurrent.

In a major victory for good jobs in the new green economy, Twin Cities’ janitors won support for the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products and transitions to day shift cleaning in a new tentative contract agreement reached in the early hours of Sunday morning. Janitors also won improved health insurance and secure full-time work for thousands of janitors who clean the vast majority of commercial office buildings and corporate headquarters in the region.

“Our new contract will make our jobs green jobs,” said Blanca Pineda, a janitor in Roseville who had lost her sense of smell from the chemicals she had to use at work. “We will use green cleaning products that will be safer for me, and safer for the people in my building. And when buildings choose to switch to day shift cleaning, we will have the time and training to make it successful.”

The tentative agreement with the Minneapolis–Saint Paul Contract Cleaners Association – including ABM, FBG, Harvard, Mid-City, and Triangle – comes after janitors made concrete preparations to go on strike in the coming week before bargaining through the night on Saturday to reach a deal.

full: <http://www.examiner.com/x-5697-Grassroots-Politics-Examiner~y2010m3d1-No-time-for-tea-Minnesota-janitors-stand-together-to-win-new-contract-and-improve-community?cid=examiner-email>