Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 26 want the companies they work for to do more for the environment. The union is currently negotiating a new contract and threatening to strike. SEIU Local 26 represents individuals subcontracted as janitors, retail cleaners, security guards, airport workers, and more in the Twin Cities. The Union has been negotiating seven contracts for nearly three months and little progress has been made.
Standing on the corner of 8th and Nicollet mall in Downtown Minneapolis Monday, they released a study that was co sponsored by MN350 and the union, which found that Minnesota corporations say they have plans to reduce climate change, but are not following through.
According to the EPA, 34% of all U.S. Greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 came from either commercial or industrial building. Despite calls for emissions to be reduced both across the country and here in Minnesota, greenhouse gas emissions overall have increased 1.3% since 1990.
The report is titled "Sky High Pollution: How Minnesota corporations pollute our planet and politics, and how community collaboration can help the state reached its 2050 greenhouse gas emission reduction goals".
The City of Minneapolis decalred a "climate emergency" back in early December, with City Council Member Cam Gordon declaring, "We wanted to demonstrate, and to respond to requests, from our constituents and residents that we take the climate crisis seriously. I think that we've already been doing a lot to address what's happening with climate change as a city, but this gave us a chance to articulate how concerned we are and set us up to take action into the future."
Now the union is looking for more action from the community, not just talk.
Among the requests, Union leaders want language in the contract that would create a green training program for commercial building janitorial workers to reduce waste and the use of toxic chemicals.
"We use chemicals that are harmful to the workers and also the tenants," said Elsa Guaman who works at United Health Group. She said they need corporations to act. "We need everyone to tackle climate change in a real way."
Joining the union, and MN350, were representatives from the Sierra Club North Star Chapter.