‘All We Want Is A Fair Wage, Some Respect & Proper Training’: High Rise Window Washers Go On Strike

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — High rise window washers in the Twin Cities went on strike Monday, fighting for better training and better pay.

The workers began their opened-ended unfair labor practice strike at 7:30 a.m., and at noontime members of the SEIU Local 26 union rallied in downtown Minneapolis at the intersection of 8th Street and Nicollet Mall in the shadow of the IDS Center.

The workers, who wash skyscraper windows for two companies, Columbia Building Services and Final Touch Commercial Cleaning, say they want to be recognized for their sacrifices and for employers to keep them safe.

Statewide, there are fewer than 80 high rise window washers. Over half of them are members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Over the last 15 years, three of those workers have died in workplace accidents.

Workers say that one company had them clean indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in half of the crew contracting the virus.

Union members are not only asking for better pay but for the state to fully fund an apprenticeship program for proper training.

“We go out there every day and put our lives on the line just so these corporate entities can look out their window and see this beautiful city that we live in,” Eric Crone, a window cleaner, said. “All we want is a fair wage, some respect and proper training.”

The window cleaners first made proposals to the companies in December of 2019. Once the pandemic hit, negotiations were delayed. Union members say that companies are refusing to set bargain dates before contracts expire.

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