Janitors Seek Rare Injunction Against Nation's Second Largest Mall Owner To Stop Rights Abuses
September 19 2007 - 4:39PM
PR Newswire (US)
Alleged Unfair Labor Practices by General Growth Properties and its
Contractors Deepen, Spread to Florida and Maryland DENVER, Sept. 19
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Janitors in California, Colorado,
Florida, Maryland, and Washington are seeking an extraordinary
remedy against General Growth Properties (NYSE:GGP) and two of its
cleaning contractors as the companies face new charges that they
illegally coerced workers in order to dissuade them from forming a
union. The so-called 10(j) injunction is a special procedure that
lets the National Labor Relations Board obtain an order from a
federal court to protect workers' civil rights in serious and
egregious situations. If implemented, the remedy would restrain
GGP, The Millard Group and Service Management Systems from
interfering in workers' freedom to choose a union -- or face
contempt of court. According to 10 new "Unfair Labor Practice"
charges being filed today, the companies illegally sought to
prevent workers from choosing a union by threatening to call police
on, threatening to fire, or firing union supporters. A charge from
Washington, for example, alleges that a janitor was fired after
telling of poor working conditions on a leaflet. Workers also
allege that GGP tried to undermine support for their union by
promising improved salaries and benefits. In an August 6 national
news release, General Growth Properties announced that janitors in
its 194 regional malls will receive wage hikes and access to
affordable health insurance. "I've worked at the mall for 5 and
half years and all I ever got was a 25- cent raise. Then we started
forming a union so now they're trying to buy us off. But the
workload has increased and they want to change our shifts. We
should be free to choose a union, without all the interference,"
says Colorado janitor Maria Trejo, who works at GGP's Park Meadows
Mall in suburban Denver. During the past few months, workers at
more than 20 GGP malls nationwide have joined with the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) to win living wages,
affordable health care, and a voice on the job. The charges being
filed today allege violations at Glendale Galleria (Glendale,
California), Park Meadows Mall (Lone Tree, Colorado), Towson Center
Mall (Towson, Maryland) Alderwood Mall (Lynnwood, Washington) and
Bayside Mall (Miami, Florida). The NLRB has decided to coordinate
these and 9 previous charges relating to GGP through its Denver
regional office. DATASOURCE: Service Employees International Union
CONTACT: Kevin O'Donnell of the Service Employees International
Union, +1-312-401-7598 Web site: http://www.seiu.org/
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