Fiscal Note
No expenditure required.
Title
SUBSTITUTE - In support of janitors organizing to improve their lives.
Body
WHEREAS, janitors in Madison work for below poverty level wages, work part-time, and have no health insurance and are organizing a union to better their working conditions; and
WHEREAS, this is one of the basic freedoms guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified in 1948 by Eleanor Roosevelt and four-fifths of the member countries of the United Nations; and
WHEREAS, Madison janitors, who clean millions of square feet of commercial property, continue to fight for the right to organize with Service Employees International Union; and
WHEREAS, janitors understand union membership provides workers better wages and benefits, protection from discrimination and unsafe workplaces while benefiting whole communities by strengthening tax bases, promoting equal treatment, and enhancing civic participation; and
WHEREAS, even though our laws guarantee America's workers the right to choose for themselves whether to have a union, unfortunately building owners and janitorial companies across the United States as well as in Madison do not respect that right. Janitors are harassed, intimidated, coerced, and even fired just for exercising, or attempting to exercise, this fundamental freedom; and
WHEREAS, when building owners and janitorial employers violate the right of workers to form a union, everyone suffers;. Wwages fall, race and gender pay gaps widen, workplace discrimination increases, and job safety standards disappear; and
WHEREAS, most building owners and janitorial contractors' violations occur behind closed doors; and
WHEREAS, a janitor's fundamental right to choose a union is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative change; and
WHEREAS, the violation of the right to choose a union is a travesty of justice that we cannot tolerate within our municipal body,
NOW, THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Madison Common Council calls upon Madison building owners and janitorial contractors to respect the wisdom of those janitors to join the union of their choice and improve their lives.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Madison Common Council supports the right of janitors to improve their lives and to join the union of their choice.