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A group of janitors and their supporters are demanding that Carnation Building Services — a Denver-based janitorial maintenance company — allow its employees to form a union.

Opponents of the union-forming idea say the janitors are trying to clean up the taxpayers’ wallets.

According to a report issued by the University of Colorado Denver (UCD), 98 percent of downtown Denver buildings use janitor companies covered by a union. Carnation Building Services (CBS) is one of the few companies that don’t. 

Emma Cerna, a janitor who worked at Denver International Airport with CBS, said she found her workload increased four-fold after she “stood up with her co-workers for a voice on the job.” The workload allegedly became so overwhelming that she was forced to leave her position.

“My co-workers and I know that uniting our voices and winning a union is our best shot at providing a better life for our families,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Carnation is attempting to block our efforts at every turn.”

Although CBS declined to comment for the story, Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute — a conservative-leaning think tank — said non-union companies like Carnation allow the market to be more competitive. The president of the think tank believes the schools like UCD that hire Carnation can then use the saved money for a better purpose.

“Our goal is to get that money into the classrooms to educate our kids,” he said. 

Rally 

Over 400 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gathered last Thursday at the University of Colorado-Auraria campus to support the Carnation Building Service janitors, according to a press release. Speakers at the rally called for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Employee Free Choice Act seeks to amend the National Labor Relations Act so that employees can form a union without undergoing a secret ballot election held by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. 

“In American today, people are working harder than ever yet finding that a secure and stable middle class life is falling further and further out of reach,” said a statement from Mitch Ackerman, president of SEIU Colorado. “We need the Employee Free Choice Act now to ensure that workers,” not just CEOs, can have the chance for a better life.”

Not everyone thinks taking the secret ballot process out of the union forming process is a good idea. Caldera called the private voting booth an American tradition and said it keeps people from being intimidated into voting one way or the other.

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