What on earth is going on at J.P. Morgan’s M Financial Plaza?
Raise America PDX : Commercial Real Estate and labor issues in the Portland metro area M Financial Plaza in Portland, Oregon, has been the site for more than a dozen protests since the building’s property manager replaced its janitorial service provider in late 2023. What’s at stake? Rather than choosing a replacement from one of many union-friendly companies listed in SEIU’s Responsible Contractor Guide, Arke Management chose Millennium Building Services, a non-union company with a history of workplace problems, including poor wages and benefits, high employee turnover, and employer violations of basic workplace rights, according to worker reports. Most recently, a crowd of chanting janitors and allies gathered in front…
Controversy continues for J.P. Morgan at M Financial Plaza after Arke Management dumps union janitors
Protests continue at M Financial Plaza after Arke Management replaced its union janitorial contractor with a non-union company, and owner JP Morgan has refused to change course. On May 8, union janitors and their supporters inflated a 18-foot-high “Fat Cat” in front of the building while banging drums and shaking noisemakers near its entrance, calling attention to JP Morgan’s immense profits ($54 billion in 2024) that come at the expense of good jobs for the janitors who clean its buildings. The controversy began in late 2023 when Arke Management replaced ABM, whose employees have a union, with Millennium Building Services, a non-union company with a history of workplace labor problems,…
Investing in Good Jobs: SKB, JLL, WHI Keep Union Janitors at Five Properties
Now, more than ever Portland is looking to business leaders to invest in Portland. SKB, WHI Real Estate Partners, LP, and JLL have done just that by choosing to continue using a responsible union janitorial contractor at five buildings, totaling 1.3 million square feet of rentable building area. (1) Over the last several months, The Water Tower, Riverside Centre, Koin Tower, Sixth + Main, and Block 300 – have all been out to bid for janitorial services. The decision-makers at SKB, WHI, and JLL chose to stick with Responsible Union Contractors at these buildings, making a long-term investment in quality services and economic vitality. A continued investment in union janitors…
OHSU’s Latest Investment in Sustainabilty: Training Frontline Workers as Green Janitors
Fourteen ABM janitors who clean Oregon Health Sciences University’s medical education buildings graduated in February at a ceremony including the graduates, leaders from SEIU Local 49, City of Portland Councilors Angelita Morillo and Steve Novick, ABM executives, and the U.S. Green Building Council. The ceremony was held at the LEED Platinum-certified Robertson Life Sciences Building in Portland’s South Waterfront. The Green Janitor Health Certification Program provides comprehensive training to janitorial staff about practices that meet the latest energy, water, and green initiative standards. It covers topics like energy efficiency, recycling, waste management, water conservation, and more. Through this program, janitors are encouraged to take part in the building’s goals of…
Protests continue at M Financial Plaza, a JP Morgan Chase-owned building that dumped its union janitors
With drums and chanting, janitors and their allies protested at M Financial Plaza again twice in recent weeks, challenging the building’s switch to using a non-union janitorial company. At issue is the decision by property manager Arke Management to not renew its service contract with ABM at M Financial Plaza in Portland’s Pearl District. ABM employees are members of SEIU Local 49, and are guaranteed fair wages, quality health insurance for themselves and their children, retirement contributions, and enforceable policies to foster respect on the job. To replace them, Arke Management brought in Millennium Building Services, a company with a history of troubling labor conditions, in late 2023. Since…
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