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.

“I believe JP Morgan doesn’t seem to care about hard working people in Portland. Corporations forget that their decisions have real consequences for people,” said Berta Sandoval, a janitor and member of SEIU Local 49. “If the building owner wants to switch to another company, there are lots of union companies to choose from!”

“JP Morgan is an outlier in the market,” said Maggie Long, Executive Director of SEIU Local 49. “The vast majority of large office buildings in Portland are cleaned by union janitorial companies. While other business leaders are investing in Portland’s future, JPMorgan is headed in the other direction. Is this fiduciary responsibility, saving a few dollars on the backs of hard-working janitors, and risking the company’s reputation? We have been trying to have a real conversation with JP Morgan Chase for more than a year about a different path forward, but it has gone nowhere.”

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.

Controversy continues for JPMorgan Chase after the union janitors were replaced in a JPMorgan-owned building in Oregon.

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