Minneapolis, MN – At their April 25 meeting, the Minneapolis city council passed an honorary resolution recognizing May 1 as International Workers Day and highlighting the struggle for immigrant and workers’ rights. The resolution was presented by Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai together with Councilmembers Aurin Chowdhury and Jason Chavez.

Members of several unions and immigrant rights organizations that have organized marches on May 1 over the years in Minneapolis were present to receive the resolution. This included members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Minnesota Workers United, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, COPAL, CTUL, Minnesota Immigrant Movement, as well as members of the Ironworkers and Teamsters unions. 

Here is the text of the resolution passed by the Minneapolis city council:

Whereas: Around the world May 1 is celebrated as International Workers Day – in over 60 countries it is a holiday to recognize struggles for workers’ rights; and

Whereas: May 1 was first celebrated in the United States in 1886 as part of the struggle for the eight-hour workday, and hundreds of thousands of workers across the country went on strike to demand better working conditions and shorter hours; and

Whereas: Many of the workers who struggled for the eight-hour workday in 1886 were immigrant and Black workers among others who had been previously excluded from the actions around labor and faced repression, discrimination, and violence; and

Whereas: May 1st celebrations returned to Minneapolis in 2006 because of the dedicated work done by the immigrant rights movement to counter discrimination and human rights violations against immigrants at the national level and strengthen relationship between organized labor and immigrant workers; and

Whereas: The Minneapolis City Council passed resolutions in 2007 (2007R-218) and 2009 (2009R-181) recognizing the growing immigrant and workers’ rights rallies in Minneapolis on May 1, which have continued annually through the present year; and

Whereas: Minneapolis has a long history of immigrant and workers’ rights advocates coming together in the spirit of solidarity; and

Whereas: Immigrants, workers, and their families are an essential and valued component of our Minneapolis community; and

Whereas: Labor unions and the historic and present advocacy of working people has resulted in economic, social, and political transformation for the dignity of all people here in Minneapolis and around the world;

—NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED—

That the Mayor and City Council do hereby recognize May 1, 2024, as International Workers Day in recognition of immigrant and workers’ rights.

This year on May 1 in Minneapolis, a coalition of more than 30 immigrant rights organizations, unions, and social justice organizations are planning to march for immigrant and workers’ rights. They will gather at 5 p.m. at the corner of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue, outside of the former MPD Third Precinct, and the march will begin at 5:30 p.m.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #MayDay #MayDay2024 #CityCouncil #MIRAC #MNWU #Teamsters #COPAL #CTUL

Minneapolis, MN – On May 21, four retail cleaning workers and four of their supporters started a hunger strike to demand justice. The goal of the hunger strike is to get Cub Foods management to start negotiating with their retail cleaning workers for better wages and working conditions. The hunger strike was kicked off with a large rally at noon. Later in the afternoon, a large group of Danzantes joined the protest and performed.

The hunger strikers and supporters have set up a round-the-clock encampment at the highly visible Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue intersection in south Minneapolis, in front of a shopping center where there is a Cub Foods store. They will have a protest action there every day from 10:00 a.m. until noon and again from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. and are encouraging people to join them. Supporters can also stop by anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. every day to show their solidarity.

Retail cleaning workers at Cub Foods and other major retail chains in the Twin Cities are mostly immigrant workers. They work overnight shift cleaning large grocery stores. Ten years ago, Twin Cities retail cleaning workers earned an average of over $10 per hour and had four workers cleaning on a shift. Now the retail corporations have contracted out cleaning to outside cleaning contractors. They pit these contractors against each other by every year taking the lowest bid for a new contract, driving down wages every year. Now retail cleaning workers doing the same work make around $7.50 per hour and only have two workers cleaning on a shift. In other words, double the workload for less money.

The Campaign for Justice in Retail Cleaning was launched in November 2010 by the Center for Workers United in Struggle (CTUL, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha). They are demanding that all the major Twin Cities retail stores adopt a code of conduct industry-wide to establish improved wages and working conditions for all retail cleaning workers.

The campaign is targeting Cub Foods first, trying to get them to lead the way by agreeing first to a code of conduct. Until now, Cub has not only refused to negotiate, but has reacted with hostility to the campaign. They fired cleaning worker Mario Cololly, who was one of the workers leading the organizing campaign. Then their security guards tackled and pepper sprayed nonviolent protesters doing a street theater skit protesting Mario’s firing. In the face of Cub’s refusal to negotiate, CTUL decided to launch a hunger strike.

Check for updates on the hunger strike and the campaign for justice in retail cleaning at http://ctul.net/hunger-strike

#MinneapolisMN #ImmigrantRights #CTUL #CentroDeTrabajadoresUnidosEnLucha #CampaignForJusticeInRetailCleaning #CubFoods #CenterForWorkersUnitedInStruggle

Minneapolis, MN – In a packed press conference March 17, retail cleaning workers with the Center of Workers United in Struggle (CTUL, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha) and their allies called upon Cub Foods to put an end to retaliation, violent reactions to peaceful protests and to meet with cleaning workers. The workers are demanding that Cub establish a code of conduct ensuring fair wages and working conditions for all workers who clean their stores.

On March 15, allies of CTUL conducted a non-violent protest at Cub Foods. A security guard reacted with violence, aggression and indiscriminate pepper spraying of protesters, shoppers and even two small children. Several people were assaulted and one woman sent to the hospital as a result of this violent reaction.

Over the years, Cub Foods, along with Lunds and Byerly's food stores, has been undercutting the wages of cleaners by forcing the bids of their cleaning contractors lower and lower. These stores are saying they are saving money. However by going with the cheapest bid, the workers' wages have been dropping, the amount of workers is being cut and working conditions are getting more dangerous. The number of workers is going from four to a team to three or even two to do the same amount of work. Workers are forced to work with hazardous chemicals without protection. Many workers put up with these conditions because they don't want to get fired. Over the past year, CTUL has waged a campaign to bring Cub Foods to the table. They’ve sent petitions and had numerous rallies and press conferences with workers speaking out about their conditions and politicians offering their support. Cub has ignored all of this.

Mario Colloly Torres, a cleaning worker and one of the leaders organizing against Cub, spoke about the conditions at Cub. “Workers have tried to talk with Cub for better wages and working conditions,” hhe said. Torres and others went to the Cub Foods corporate office to present a letter to the CEO and they also filed charges with the United States Department of Labor regarding unpaid wages and signed a letter addressed to their employer demanding an end to reported intimidation and threats against workers organizing. Cub responded by firing Torres. Cub stated they took pictures of Torres ‘sleeping.’ Torres stated, “I was on break. What, Cub now doesn't want workers to take a break that we are entitled to?”

Jesus Castillo, cleaning worker and member of CTUL, spoke, “While working at Lunds, conditions have been getting worse for the workers. Over a year and half ago while working, we had four workers to clean the store. We have to do same amount of work with less people.”

He worked for National Maintenance but was laid off when Lunds hired Carlson Building Maintenance. Carlson told Lunds that they would be able maintain the high quality at a lower price. Castillo stated he knows that would be impossible since they have even fewer workers to do the job. Women have also been sexually harassed by the supervisor and the company is doing nothing about it.

“We did get a raise but only because the federal minimum wage was raised. We all need a raise,” Castillo continued, “Not just for the workers at National Cleaning Company but for all workers.”

Brandon Nessen, from the Spirit of Truth, a faith group, explained the violent encounter at a Cub Foods when peaceful protesters were attacked during a skit.

Torres talked about the next steps, “After all the organizing we and others have done and after our non-violent protests we have done, we have seen the violent side of Cub Foods. We are planning to give Cub Foods a two-month cooling off period. If Cub still refuses to come to the table, CTUL and allies will begin a hunger strike. This doesn't mean, we are doing nothing. This will give us more time to organize. We will be building for more events and bigger actions. We invite anyone to stand with us.”

#MinneapolisMN #CTUL #CentroDeTrabajadoresUnidosEnLucha #CampaignForJusticeInRetailCleaning #CubFoods

Minneapolis, MN – On March 2, Mario Colloly Torres was fired from his retail cleaning job at Cub Foods. Torres is a leader in the campaign for justice for retail cleaning workers. The campaign is organized by the Center for Workers United in Struggle or Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL) in Spanish. CTUL is organizing low paid, mostly immigrant workers at major retail stores such as Cub, Lunds & Byerly's, Target, and Supervalu to fight for better wages, working conditions, and the right to organize.

While Torres works cleaning Cub Foods stores, a subcontractor, Carlson Building Maintenance, technically employs him. This is the case across the retail cleaning industry. The big retail stores contract out their cleaning to a series of subcontractors that constantly underbid each other to drive down wages and working conditions. Ten years ago in retail cleaning, workers made around $10 an hour. Today the average is $7.50 an hour. During the same period the average workload also doubled. It is a race to the bottom for workers.

After Mario's firing on March 2, CTUL immediately launched a campaign to fight back against the firing and to push forward the campaign. Mario responded to his firing saying, “They think that firing me will stop us from organizing. Instead, it will only make us fight harder! We will continue the struggle until we win fair wages, working conditions and the right to organize without fear of retaliation.”

On March 4, CTUL filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board stating that Carlson Building Maintenance along with Cub Foods fired Mario for organizing for better wages and working conditions.

CTUL also initiated a series of protest actions to confront executives of Carlson Building Maintenance and Cub Foods directly. According to a report by CTUL, 30 workers and supporters went to Carlson headquarters in White Bear Lake to speak with company president Nick Giese. Mario explained what had happened, and asked Mr. Giese to clarify if his firing was the company’s decision, or if it was the decision of a rogue supervisor. Mr. Giese chose not to have dialogue with Mario, and instead had one of his employees call the police. The workers then left there and went to a nearby Cub Foods store and marched together into the store, passed out flyers to customers who were curious about what was happening, delivered a letter to the manager, led a raucous round of chants, and left to plan next steps.

The next step is a series of protests this week to protest Mario's firing. CTUL is calling on people to support Mario and all retail-cleaning workers at the following actions. For each action, meet at CTUL at 2511 E. Franklin Ave. (inside of Bethany Lutheran Church) to go together to the protest site:

• Monday, March 7 – 6 pm – 8 pm
• Wednesday, March 9 – 11 am
• Thursday, March 10 – 6 pm
• Friday, March 11 – 5 pm
• Tuesday, March 15 – 10 am

The goal of the Campaign for Justice in Retail Cleaning is to demand that all the employers across the industry agree to a code of conduct for workers that clean their stores. Workers want guarantees on fair wages and working conditions, and the right to organize without fear of retaliation. The campaign began by targeting Cub Foods, whose workers face many of the worst conditions in the industry. CTUL is calling on Cub Foods to lead the way in the industry by agreeing to the code of conduct.

For more information on CTUL's retail cleaning workers campaign, visit www.ctul.net.

#MinneapolisMN #ImmigrantRights #CTUL #CentroDeTrabajadoresUnidosEnLucha #CampaignForJusticeInRetailCleaning #CubFoods

Minneapolis, MN – On Jan. 20, dozens of Latino immigrants who were among the hundreds fired from Chipotle Mexican Grill throughout Minnesota last month protested at a downtown Minneapolis Chipotle. At the protest the workers entered the store, while eight of the workers’ allies chained themselves together inside the store until they were arrested. The workers and their supporters are demanding justice from Chipotle.

Chipotle, a large multinational corporation that markets itself as a socially conscious Mexican food restaurant that sells “food with integrity,” abruptly fired hundreds of their Mexican and other Latino immigrant workers in Minnesota in December. At Chipotle restaurants across the state, they fired dozens of workers at a time, showing them the door without giving them a clear explanation for their firing.

Hearing rumblings of the firings, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) denounced the cruel pre-Christmas firings publicly, and the media quickly took notice. Since then the fired workers have continued to speak out. They've organized several protests to demand justice. Their campaign is being supported by SEIU Local 26, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL) and MIRAc.

The workers are demanding that they be properly compensated, including all back pay, vacation pay and compensation for years of service. They are demanding the truth from the company, which for weeks refused to make a public statement about the firings. Under pressure from the workers and repeated media questioning, Chipotle now admits in the press that the mass firings were a result of an I-9 Audit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but they still haven’t communicated that clearly to the workers they fired.

I-9 audits are an anti-immigrant enforcement mechanism that have been dramatically ramped up by the Obama administration over the last two years, resulting in massive waves of unjust firings of immigrant workers around the country. Here in Minnesota, in addition to the hundreds of fired Chipotle workers, 1200 janitors were fired from ABM a year and a half ago and 100 immigrant workers in South Saint Paul who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union were fired recently from I-9 audits as well.

According to MIRAc member Brad Sigal, “The workers at Chipotle were fired because the Obama administration is ordering more and more of these anti-immigrant I-9 audits. The President can stop them today administratively – it doesn’t need a vote in Congress. If President Obama wants to show he supports immigrant rights like he claims, then not one more immigrant worker should be fired unjustly because of his administration’s policies.”

#MinneaoplisMN #MinneapolisMN #SEIULocal26 #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #Chipotle #CTUL #I9Audits