Clean Campaign
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Mike Janssen
SEIU looks beyond labor disputes
SEIU has not limited its campaign against General Growth to the arena of labor disputes. In May the union issued a press release calling attention to discrimination complaints filed by customers at the firm's Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, Wis. In complaints filed with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, customers claimed they had been followed, harassed, searched and asked to leave the mall due to their race, according to the union.
More recently, SEIU commissioned the Good Jobs First study. Good Jobs First acknowledges that General Growth is not alone in getting financing or other assistance in building projects from cities and states through economic development agencies. The study singles out General Growth because they are the target of an organizing campaign. “To be honest, all other mall operators engage in the same practices,” says Philip Mattera, research director at the nonprofit. “We're not suggesting that this is unique behavior on GGP's part.”
In fact, SEIU commissioned a similar study last year focusing on Simon Property Group. At Simon's request, SEIU did not release the study, O'Donnell says, and Simon later committed to providing wages and health coverage that met SEIU's standards. The corporation has never commented publicly on the agreement and would not comment for this article. A spokeswoman for Westfield also did not return calls.
Simon and Westfield contractors Unicco and Control Services Group both met the union's standards for wages and benefits and also supported workers' rights to join a union, according to SEIU. The contractors and several other janitorial companies did not return calls. Representatives of two contractors, Maintenance Inc. and Federal Building Services, declined to comment.
Will SEIU expand its campaign to other mall owners? O'Donnell cites no specific plans. But SEIU hopes that by pressuring the biggest owners, such as Simon, Westfield and General Growth, it will make waves that will ripple throughout the industry.
“If the industry does not begin to improve standards and help lift more workers out of poverty, you'll see more and more janitors beginning to fight for the good jobs…communities need,” O'Donnell says.
