Twitter janitors on strike after company lockout

Janitors at the Twitter headquarters are on strike after the company locked them out and told their union it planned to replace them.

Workers held signs outside headquarters saying “proud to be union” and “justice for janitors”. Janitors say they were locked out of the building without warning Friday and haven’t been allowed back.

Twitter has ended its relationship with the contractor that employs the janitors, Flagship, and has indicated that the company’s new contractor will not rehire the workers.

BREAKING: SEIU Local 87 Janitors at Twitter HQ went on strike at 6am today. Picket line starting at 12 noon, 1355 Market St. in San Francisco. #TakeOnTheTwit pic.twitter.com/IluPUtLAaY

— California Labor Federation (@CaliforniaLabor) December 5, 2022

California law states that new contractors have to hire the originally contracted workers for 90 days during a transitional period or they must be paid compensation and benefits. 

Olga Miranda, president of SEIU Local 87, which represents the workers, categorized the move as unexpected and cruel.

She said workers were told only last week that they should expect to lose their jobs just three weeks before Christmas.

The California Labor Federation, which represents 1,200 unions in the state, including that of the janitors, said that the last day of the contract is Dec. 9.

“Twitter doesn’t seem to understand how important it is to keep a clean house and respect the people who take out the trash,” the Federation wrote on Twitter.