Download “Many years ago at the stores I clean, some workers made up to $11

“Many years ago at the stores I clean, some workers made up to $11 or $12 an
hour. Now the workforce has been reduced, our workload has nearly doubled and
many cleaning workers are barely making minimum wage. But it’s not just us, this
problem is happening across the industry, to the point where we’ve seen a slavery
ring in retail cleaning uncovered in Philadelphia. If we don’t do something to
ensure fair wages and working conditions now, then we are heading a hundred miles
an hour down a very slippery slope,” retail cleaning worker and member of Centro
de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL).
“Many years ago at the stores I clean, some workers made up to $11 or $12 an
hour. Now the workforce has been reduced, our workload has nearly doubled and
many cleaning workers are barely making minimum wage. But it’s not just us, this
problem is happening across the industry, to the point where we’ve seen a slavery
ring in retail cleaning uncovered in Philadelphia. If we don’t do something to
ensure fair wages and working conditions now, then we are heading a hundred miles
an hour down a very slippery slope,” retail cleaning worker and member of Centro
de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL).
Over the past 10 years, working conditions in retail cleaning have spiraled
out of control. Workers today have to carry out nearly double the workload
for significantly lower wages. Dozens of U.S. Department of Labor
investigations and federal lawsuits have uncovered millions of dollars in
unpaid wages in retail cleaning over the past several years. At the extreme, a
case of modern-day slavery was recently uncovered in retail cleaning in
Philadelphia, where workers who clean Target, WalMart and other stores
were forced to work 16 hour workdays, and only earned $100 per month
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/1/10). This race to the bottom in wages and working
conditions exists because of the incredibly competitive nature of the
industry. Giant corporations like Target and SuperValu leverage their size to
pit dozens of cleaning companies against each other, each underbidding the
other in order to gain the contract.
Over the past 10 years, working conditions in retail cleaning have spiraled
out of control. Workers today have to carry out nearly double the workload
for significantly lower wages. Dozens of U.S. Department of Labor
investigations and federal lawsuits have uncovered millions of dollars in
unpaid wages in retail cleaning over the past several years. At the extreme, a
case of modern-day slavery was recently uncovered in retail cleaning in
Philadelphia, where workers who clean Target, WalMart and other stores
were forced to work 16 hour workdays, and only earned $100 per month
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/1/10). This race to the bottom in wages and working
conditions exists because of the incredibly competitive nature of the
industry. Giant corporations like Target and SuperValu leverage their size to
pit dozens of cleaning companies against each other, each underbidding the
other in order to gain the contract.
CTUL is organizing to change this reality. Workers have sent 3 letters to
retail stores requesting a meeting, yet Target, SuperValu and Lunds &
Byerly’s have refused to meet. We march to draw public attention to the
human rights violations taking place in retail cleaning, and to encourage the
stores to open dialogue with workers in order to establish a code of conduct
that guarantees fair wages and working conditions in the cleaning of their
stores. At the end of the march, workers will single out the store where the
worst human rights violations have been reported, and will launch a public
campaign calling on that store to play a leadership role in changing the
industry.
CTUL is organizing to change this reality. Workers have sent 3 letters to
retail stores requesting a meeting, yet Target, SuperValu and Lunds &
Byerly’s have refused to meet. We march to draw public attention to the
human rights violations taking place in retail cleaning, and to encourage the
stores to open dialogue with workers in order to establish a code of conduct
that guarantees fair wages and working conditions in the cleaning of their
stores. At the end of the march, workers will single out the store where the
worst human rights violations have been reported, and will launch a public
campaign calling on that store to play a leadership role in changing the
industry.
For more information, see: www.ctul.net, 612-332-0663
For more information, see: www.ctul.net, 612-332-0663