JPMorgan, ‘Tis the season to clean up the mess at M Financial Plaza
Portland, Oregon – Dec. 19, 2024
Controversy continues for JPMorgan Chase after the union janitors were replaced in a JPMorgan-owned building in Oregon.
A group of about 20 janitors and their allies protested today at M Financial Plaza in Portland’s Pearl District, calling on building owner JPMorgan Chase to create good jobs by ensuring a union janitorial company cleans the property.
The janitors, members of SEIU Local 49, first delivered candy canes and sang a Christmas carol at M Financial Plaza, across from Powell’s City of Books in the Brewery Blocks. They hung paper ornaments on a Christmas tree labeled with their items on their wish list, including respect, fair wages, and benefits.
When no representative of M Financial Group or the building´s property manager, Arke Management, agreed to speak in person, the janitors left a written statement and departed, chanting “Justice for janitors, ¡Sí señor!”
The janitors later hand delivered a statement to JPMorgan Chase’s offices in nearby Fox Tower, reminding the company that M Financial Plaza’s janitorial services switched to a non-union company just before the holidays last year.
The statement included:
We believe the switch to a non-union janitorial service provider is harmful to janitors and working-class people of Portland. The new janitorial company, Millennium Building Services, has a history of high employee turnover, unlawful denial of protected sick leave, worker reports of retaliatory, offensive, and inappropriate conduct by management; violations of workplace safety and health rules, high rates of employees being injured on the job, and subcontracting with window cleaning company associated with illegal discrimination and a nearly fatal fall from an eight-story downtown Portland building.
The workers’ statement further noted:
As downtown Portland continues to recover from the pandemic, eliminating good jobs for service workers is not responsible … As janitors, we are proud of our difficult and essential work. We ask you to honor janitors’ contributions to your properties by choosing a union janitorial service provider, fostering dignity, quality jobs, and Portland’s economic vitality.
The union stated its Responsible Contractor webpage, at www.ResponsibleContractorGuide.org, currently lists 14 Portland-area janitorial companies.
