Picketing continues in support of the unjustly fired Black cleaners who used to work at Founders Square, where, as a tenant tells us that, counter to the Armour Group’s claims, they did a good job. We also talk to Omar Joof about being poor, Black and immigrant, and to Gary Burrill, who believes the government, as a major tenant of the building, should speak out.
In an uplifting display of solidarity some 50 people, trade union activists, members of the faith community, and others, gathered in front of Founders Square in downtown Halifax at noon today to offer support to the seven Black cleaners who were recently unjustly fired, as if their lives don’t count.
The Armour Group, property managers of Founders Square, have pointed to poor service to justify the termination of the janitorial services contract with GDI, causing the layoff of seven Black janitors. This Saturday Robert Wright, a tenant of the building, wrote a letter to set the record straight. “I have been in that building for several years and have never had occasion to complain about the state of cleanliness in the mornings.” Wright wants both the Armour Group as well as one of its main tenants, the Province of Nova Scotia, to right this wrong.
Three good unionized jobs are lost as the National Research Council (NRC) in Halifax awards its new cleaning contract to a non-unionized company, paying minimum wage and providing no benefits. About fifty people gathered at the NRC office on Oxford Street to demand better.