On Saturday, August 20, low-wage Minneapolis-Saint Paul janitors organizing with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha staged a day of action, shutting down intersections, taking the streets and marching to protest Kohl’s failure to implement a responsible contractor policy and to protest its subcontractor Kimco’s poverty wages. Twenty-six years after the iconic Justice for Janitors Bread and Roses strike in LA, Twin Cities janitors in the the Fight for 15 have scored major victories, including 4,000 Target janitors striking and winning their largest wage increase in decades, a contract which brought the majority of Target Janitors above $15 per hour. Inspired by this permissive local and national context for struggle, Kimco janitors, students and teachers took the streets during the back-to-school season when Kohl’s makes 15 percent of its $673 million in annual profits. This is their story.
Justice for Janitors from Jonathan Leavitt on Vimeo.
Join us in defending the truth before it’s too late
The future of independent journalism is uncertain, and the consequences of losing it are too grave to ignore. To ensure Truthout remains safe, strong, and free, we need to raise $50,000 in the next 9 days. Every dollar raised goes directly toward the costs of producing news you can trust.
Please give what you can — because by supporting us with a tax-deductible donation, you’re not just preserving a source of news, you’re helping to safeguard what’s left of our democracy.