Schoon Genoeg: SEIU Members Support Striking Cleaners In The Netherlands

PHOTO: SEIU MEMBERS ON THEIR WAY TO THE DUTCH CONSULATE IN NYC. CREDIT: SEIU Local 32BJ

American janitors and other SEIU members are showing their support for thousands of Dutch cleaners this month who have been on strike since the beginning of January. The cleaners, members of the trade union FNV Bondenoten, are calling for improved wages, sick pay, job security, and better working conditions to do their jobs well.

In multiple cities including New York and Portland, a delegation of SEIU members visited the Dutch Consulate office, where they delivered a letter supporting the thousands of cleaners on strike in the Netherlands.

PHOTO: BOSTON MEMBERS HOLD UP SIGNS IN SUPPORT OF DUTCH CLEANERS. CREDIT: SEIU Local 615

In Boston, members of SEIU Local 615 held a video conference with cleaners in Amsterdam, to show their solidarity and ensure them that, across the world, janitors are working together to improve jobs and the industry globally. The members shared a letter calling on the Dutch government and Dutch multinationals, who benefit from the cleaning services, to take steps to help settle the strike. "The demands of the cleaners and simple and reasonable," the letter reads. "Fundamentally, they are demanding a better future to be afforded respect and dignity on the job. These demands are important and should be met."

Cleaners in the Netherlands, like their American counterparts, work hard to clean offices, universities and government buildings that are essential to the country's productivity. Many are immigrants fighting for the basic concept of good jobs, and all are protesting the same types of economic inequality the 99% face here in the U.S.

Thousands of international workers from Denmark to Australia have already taken action in support of the Dutch cleaners, sent letters or signed an online petition sponsored by Labour Start and UNI Global Union. SEIU is standing with them in their fight for dignity and respect on the job, echoing their chants of "Schoon Genoeg!" (Cleaned enough!)

Click here to sign and send your own message telling key employers and clients that Dutch cleaners need the fair treatment and respect they have earned.