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Portland janitors hold 28-hour sit-in to protest poverty-level wagesFor 28 hours, Portland janitors and their supporters occupied the sidewalk in front of the Columbia Square office building, 111 SW Columbia St., to protest poverty wages that union spokespeople say range as low as $28 a day. The “sit-in” began Aug. 24 and ended with a rally Aug. 25. As part of a nationwide campaign to raise janitors’ living conditions, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been calling on downtown commercial real estate owners to use union contractors to clean their buildings. In Portland, SEIU Local 49 has been targeting Melvin Mark Companies, owner-operator of a trio of luxury office buildings that are cleaned by non-union Servicemaster Swan Island. Pay is low, and benefits are non-existent. Local 49 represents about 2,000 janitors who clean commercial buildings, city, county, state and federal buildings, Portland International Airport and Portland Public Schools. © Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.
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