High-Rise Window Washers Grounded

High-rise window washers grounded: Some downtown office building windows remained dirty Tuesday after 50 union window washers said they'd been locked out by their employers over a safety dispute.

The workers, members of Local 26 of Service Employees International Union, normally hang suspended in "chairs" many stories above street level while they wash office building windows. They say they were locked out at midnight Monday by window washing firms Marsden Building Maintenance of St. Paul and Columbia Building Services of Minneapolis after workers complained that the ropes and rope attachment points that support workers high in the air don't meet government safety standards. Marsden and Columbia representatives could not be reached for comment.

After holding a midday rally on Nicollet Mall Monday, some union members walked into Midwest Plaza and U.S. Bank, two office towers on Nicollet Mall where they normally work, to discuss safety issues with building representatives. The union plans to picket from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Wednesday on Nicollet Mall.

The safety allegations are being made at a time when the union is in negotiations with the two firms, seeking to replace a two-year contract that expired in February. Workers concede the alleged safety hazards have existed for years but say they are being talked about now because safety is an issue in the contract negotiations.

The union is seeking higher wages -- window washers are now paid $14 to $19.20 an hour -- and more safety language in a new contract, said Greg Nammacher, secretary-treasurer of Local 26. Both companies have proposed pay cuts ranging from 10 to 28 percent, and negotiations are going nowhere, he said. Window washers make up 50 of the 5,000 workers the union represents; the other union members are janitors and security officers.

Some window washers detailed what they said were safety violations on the job. Steve Hall of Columbia Heights said washers are being asked to use support ropes that are too old or too worn to meet government safety standards. Ropes are supposed to be used no more than two years, he said.

Luis Rodriguez of St. Paul said he was uneasy about being told to use unsafe rooftop anchoring points for support ropes, such as a flagpole and a gutter pipe that weren't designed to handle the strain of suspending a window washer. Glenn Roehsner of Minneapolis said a Marsden supervisor told him the company couldn't afford to comply with government safety rules. "Increasing cost pressures are putting safety on the back burner," Nammacher said. The window washers kept their feet firmly planted Tuesday, claiming safety is an issue in stalled contract talks.

Union says safety enforcement, wage cuts at issue: Window cleaners who work on most of the high-rise office towers in Minneapolis and St. Paul say they were locked out of work Tuesday by their employers — Marsden Final Touch Services and Columbia Building Services — amid contract negotiations. The approximately 50 window cleaners are represented by Service Employees International Union Local 26 and claim safety enforcement is at the center of the dispute. Calls to the companies were not returned.

Union officials say the companies told them the lockout will continue until a new contract is signed. But the two sides are at odds. According to the union, the companies also are demanding wage cuts of 10 percent to 28 percent. In the past 2 1/2 years, there have been three fatalities in the window cleaning industry in the Twin Cities. This is in an industry with less than 100 workers trained on high-rise buildings, according to the union. After meeting with state regulatory officials last fall, window cleaners decided to seek better enforcement of existing safety regulations.

Steve Hall, a window cleaner with Columbia Building Services for 16 years, said he and some other window cleaners asked their employer last week for proof of purchase dates for the ropes they use in their job to hold them in place. Safety standards call for ropes to be no more than two years old. After raising the concern, their employer told them their request was "ridiculous."

"People are hanging on these ropes, and we really don't know how old they are, when they were inspected or if they were inspected," Hall said. "We're always told, 'You're good to go,' and we always went with them and trusted them." But then the cleaners asked to see receipts and purchase dates for the ropes. "It was a serious question, but there was a simple solution to it," Hall said. "Instead of them giving us anything, they locked us out." The two sides are scheduled to bargain today.