ST. LOUIS — Local union janitors have voted to authorize a strike if they don't see wage increases from their employers.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 union said that if negotiations for better wages and benefits stall, they are willing to walk off the job in the coming days.
A group of janitors and community allies, including Rev. Darryl Gray and St. Louis Building Trades Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Stiffler, gathered north of the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis on Thursday morning. They announced that workers are willing to do whatever it takes as negotiations for 2,100 area janitors enter their last scheduled day.
The vote comes after months of failure to agree on a contract, which many workers say has left them struggling to support their families on an average of $11 per hour.
The group is part of a larger effort for a $15 minimum wage called One St. Louis.
If you aren't one of these workers, chances are you know one or see one while you're at work every day: 2,100 janitors work at major offices and employers around the area like US Bank Plaza, BJC, Boeing, Peabody Plaza, Express Scripts, Wells Fargo and more.
“I voted yes to strike because I’m struggling to support my daughter on $10 an hour, which isn’t enough to put food on the table,” said SEIU Local 1 janitor Keosha Gowan in an SEIU Local 1 news release. “$15 for our communities means that nobody would be left in the streets.”
This is the group that rallied downtown earlier this week, when 17 people, including clergy members and Alderwoman Megan Green, were eventually arrested for impeding the flow of traffic.
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