What: 24-hour unfair labor practice strike and picket by Complete Cleaning employees that clean General Electric plant in Lynn to combat Complete Cleaning’s retaliatory firing of workers and other illegal unfair labor practices
Where: General Electric plant at 1100 Western Ave, Lynn, Mass.
When: 24-hour strike announced for Monday June 27, planned to last until Tuesday
Who: Complete Cleaning employees, union members, other community supporters
Why: After months of illegal retaliation for their efforts to form a union and improve their working conditions, the Complete Cleaning employees who clean the General Electric plant in Lynn have announced a 24-hour unfair labor practice strike today. In recent weeks, the company has fired employees in retaliation for their involvement in union activities, a severe violation of federal labor laws. These and other illegal reprisals have led to an ongoing investigation into Complete Cleaning by the federal National Labor Relations Board.
These workers, many of whom have cleaned the plant for years, mostly make eight dollars an hour with no health insurance and not one paid sick day. Complete Cleaning employees have also reported several wage and hour violations, including not being paid for overtime hours that they have worked, and filed complaints with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.
To remedy these conditions, the workers are seeking to be represented by SEIU Local 615, the union that represents more than 14,000 commercial janitors in New England. In response, Complete Cleaning management has launched an escalating anti-union campaign that has included retaliation, threats, and intimidation.
Antonia Chun, a contracted janitor at the GE plant for twelve years recently fired for her union activities, said “After all these years of hard work, I was still making eight dollars an hour with no benefits. When the manager fired me, he said, ‘This is because you support the union.’ We are on strike because we will no longer be treated like the trash we clean.”
Complete Cleaning workers and union spokespeople available at picket line.
Visuals include picket signs, banners, and leaflets.
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