Eleven people were issued citations for trespassing as janitors with SEIU Local 26, who last week went on a 24-hour strike, protested Thursday afternoon at the U.S. Bank headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.
11 people cited for trespassing at SEIU janitors' protest
The workers and their subcontractor bosses will be back in negotiations Friday morning.
February 26, 2016 at 12:26AM
The protesters chanted and continued their call for a $15 hourly wage floor for all janitors. As of 4:30 p.m., no one had been arrested, said Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder.
SEIU and the subcontractors who hire the janitors have been in negotiations since November. A bargaining session is planned for Friday morning.
A deal couldn't be reached at their latest bargaining session on Monday — the 12th between the two sides, which have been far apart on wages since negotiations began. Full-time janitors, who now earn $14.62 per hour, are asking for a $1-an-hour raise each of the next three years.
SEIU negotiators have also proposed raising part-timers' hourly pay to $15 an hour by the end of a new three-year contract, and giving workers additional sick days.
The cleaning companies have offered a much more modest concession — to raise full-time workers' pay above $15 per hour by the beginning of 2018, but not part-time employees'.
Local 26 is Minnesota's Property Services Union, uniting more than 6,000 janitors, security officers, and window cleaners in the Twin Cities metro.
Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648
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