Janitors, students, and community members crash the Minnesota Bankers Association meeting in St. Paul to confront the bailed out banks about the damage they've done to the community. Executives at Wells Fargo and US Bank are paying themselves more than $30 billion in bonuses and compensation, while the janitors who keep their buildings running are struggling to survive. Take action:
http://26.seiu.org/greenjobs“We are here to make ourselves heard and stand up for what all working families in Minnesota should have: eight-hour full-time jobs with good health insurance,” said Everett Spicer, a janitor at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. “Big banks like US Bancorp and Wells Fargo have a responsibility to rebuild the economy they wrecked by supporting good jobs in our community.”
http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/feb/janitors-crash-banker-meeting-slam-billions-exec-bonusesAt 10 am today, about one hundred janitors and supporters of SEIU Local 26 crashed the National Bankers Association meeting at the Saint Paul City Center. They executed a carefully planned action designed to barge into the bankers’ conference and demand fair treatment of Local 26 workers. Union members quickly surged from their bus parked outside into the atrium of the Hilton, past the conference check in desk and into the ballroom where speakers were addressing hundreds of Minnesota bankers. Security stopped the vast majority of the protesters, but a few made their way into the bankers’ gathering.
The union’s message was conveyed with chanting, air horn blasts and massive signs that exposed the multimillion dollar salaries of top Minnesota bank executives like Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, who made over $18 million this year. Full-time janitors make as little as $20,200 a year, before taxes, and many face thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical costs due to poor coverage, or avoid doctor visits out of fear of incurring big bills.
Security guards grappled with two female organizers as they stood in place and held the doors open for other protestors. Iris Altamirano, who was shut inside the ballroom by guards, pushed the door open and planted herself in place. “I had my arms down the whole time, but I knew we had to open those doors so we could be heard.”
Roberto Bueno, who lives in Brooklyn Park and whose mother is a janitor at Boston Scientific entered the ballroom and made a complete circuit while delivering his prepared remarks and chanting. “It was a bit awkward, but I said what I had to say.“
After bankers’ security finally closed the doors and ejected union members, Local 26 activists continued to loudly chant and disrupt the meeting being held yards away as cameras from local TV news recorded the action.
“We are here to make ourselves heard and stand up for what all working families in Minnesota should have: 8-hour full-time jobs with good health insurance,” said Everett Spicer, a janitor at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. “Big banks like US Bancorp and Wells Fargo have a responsibility to rebuild the economy they wrecked by supporting good jobs in our community.”
“It is time for the banks to give back to our communities,” said Spicer, who works until 5:30 am, and left a bargaining session take part in the action. “It was hard, a real task to be heard and get in there. What made them react like that, slamming people around?”
Keyla Kahl, a 27 year-old mother and union leader who works in Capella Towers brought kids to the protest. All three were roughly shoved by the guards attempting to secure the room. “As we proceeded in we were holding hands and they pushed us out. The kids got scared and were asking to leave. It doesn’t make sense that we have to go to this extent to get our point across,” said Kahl.
In a bizarre twist, several workers have recently lost their homes to foreclosure by US Bank and Wells Fargo; banks whose buildings are cleaned by Local 26 janitors. According to union advocates, this points out the economic injustice janitors face as they struggle to make ends meet while big banks rake in government bailouts and massive profits.
Alfredo Estrada Ruiz, a janitor in Bloomington who works at the Minnesota Center lost his house on January 22. “I've worked for two years and I just went full time at $12.97 an hour. Before, I used to make $10.50 an hour five hours a day.”
“I lost my house because I don't earn enough to make my house payments and I tried to work with US bank to modify my mortgage or lower my monthly payment. They said that they couldn't do anything that and that the payments was set and that my only other option was to stop making payments and lose my house,” says Ruiz.
“Losing my house was very difficult, especially for my family. My daughters love playing in the yard. I struggled to find a place to live because many of the rental properties required a minimum income of $1900-2200 a month. It's been a struggle to save enough money for first and last months’ rent.
What I make isn't enough to live in a good place for my family.”
Armando Diaz, who works for Harvard janitorial in Normandale, tells a similar story. “I lost my house after 5 years of making payments. I tried to work something out with Wells Fargo because I couldn't afford the mortgage and they responded to me very unprofessionally and that they couldn't help me and that I would just have to deal with it.”
“I found another job cleaning chimneys in the early morning with the cold but I couldn't keep up with the pressure that Harvard put on us and could not keep up. I lost the house on February 5 and living in an apartment is not the same as living in a house. I had to move my kids from their school with all their friends and teachers. It's been very hard especially for my daughter who is disabled. My kids ask me when they we are going back to our house and it’s hard for them because they don't understand that the house doesn't belong to us anymore. We lost it and it's very hard for them to understand,” says Diaz.
Two weeks ago, janitors who clean the vast majority of commercial office buildings and corporate headquarters in the Twin Cities region voted to authorize a strike over unfair labor practices, if necessary, and could walk off the job at any time. They have been bargaining for months with their employers, including ABM, Harvard, and Marsden, and they have been working without a contract since January 8.
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