Picket lines made up of janitorial workers are up at about 100 corporate buildings across the Twin Cities, calling for better wages and benefits.
The three-day proactive strike began promptly at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning in downtown Minneapolis, where about two-dozen people grabbed signs and began marching in an elongated circle in front of the Ameriprize headquarters building at the southeast corner of 7th Street and 2nd Avenue.
"Six of our workers died during the early days of the pandemic, these are essential workers, and since that time many of us have still have not seen a wage raise of significance, or employer-paid retirement," said Greg Nammacher, president of SEIU local 26.
The pickets are expected to remain up for three days.
"We've been at the bargaining table for three months, and, you know, in good faith, we want to try and get to a settlement and stop the employers unfair labor practices," said Nammacher. "This is just a demonstration of our strength, and then we want to go back to the table and see if we can get a fair contract done before we have to do a bigger strike."
SEIU local 26 represents some 4,000 commercial building janitors in the Twin Cities.