RELEASE: Labor union and environmental group unite in call for change at Daimler Trucks North America
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 24, 2018 Contact: Rae Dunnaville, 503-919-1960, raed@seiu49.org A janitors’ labor union and air quality activists have teamed up to advocate for Daimler to change its approach to community engagement. PORTLAND, OR — Portland-area janitors and their allies have criticized Daimler (OTCMKTS: DMLRY) for hiring a low-wage, non-union janitorial contractor to clean its new headquarters and nearby buildings. Now air quality advocates and a janitors’ labor union have teamed up to advocate for Daimler to change its approach to community engagement. Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently issued a notice to Daimler Trucks of North America that the company’s truck production plant in Portland may release unlawful “nuisance odors” into adjacent neighborhoods. DEQ’s regulatory action follows years of complaints by area residents, including…
Daimler Trucks of North America Continues Indifferent Reaction to Serious Allegations Against Service Contractors
“U.S. Security is the most unprofessional company I have ever worked with!” -Security Official, Delaware Courts Daimler Trucks of North America received public funding, to the tune of $20 million in state and local assistance, to construct their headquarters building, completed in 2016. As part of the agreement, Daimler committed to create good jobs for their employees. It appears that they’ve followed through with those commitments, at least for their direct employees. The agreement left out any requirements that workers who clean and secure Daimler’s headquarters, employees of service contractors, also enjoy good jobs. In the case with Millennium Building Services, the company Daimler contracts with to perform janitorial…
Victory for Janitors at Nike
Last September, Millennium Building Service janitors approached property managers for Nike to ask for them to speak up for janitors’ job quality at the Nike corporate headquarters. The janitors were paid poverty wages, had no access to affordable health insurance, believed they were being denied protected sick time, and wanted a voice on the job. They asked Nike to communicate to Millennium, their employer, that Millennium should work with their workers. Millennium refused to talk with janitors when they raised concerns directly. In July, Millennium janitors celebrated victory. After months of organizing their coworkers, and filing federal charges related to alleged interrogation, retaliation and coercion, Nike decided to choose a…
Unico Properties Eliminates Good Jobs at Machineworks and the Lovejoy
Shortly after union janitors left the building, complaints already had come up and tenants were concerned – that’s what janitors heard when they visited The Lovejoy and Machineworks in Northwest Portland in August. Unico Properties manages both The Lovejoy and also Machineworks, a property owned by Blackrock (NYSE: BLK). In July, Unico decided to take a risk by using Millennium Building Services for janitorial service, a decision that meant eliminating good janitorial jobs in the buildings. Unico’s decision to undercut area jobs standards for janitors appears to move in the opposite direction of one of their tenants at Machineworks, Microsoft. In August, Microsoft announced that they would require service contractors…
Janitors & Supporters Speak Out About Switch to Low Road Contractors at Machineworks and the Lovejoy Building
Tenants at The Lovejoy and Machine Works aren’t the only ones dissatisfied after Millennium Building Services took over janitorial service at the buildings—local janitors are speaking out too! The property manager, Unico Properties, is in the hot seat after they decided to bring in Millennium instead of one of the many responsible contractors operating in Portland. Millennium has a record of problems with their employees. Millennium employees have reported poverty wages even after years of loyalty. BOLI, the state labor agency, found that Millennium illegally denied workers their rights under Oregon’s sick leave law. Millennium also reported on-the-job injuries and illnesses at 2–3 times the industry average rate. Janitors spent…
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