Cleaning workers ask for fair wage agreement

Workers for firms that clean Target, SuperValu, Lunds and Byerly's stores in the Twin Cities say their wages have been falling even as they're required to do more work.

The workers say the cleaning firms that employ them have been cutting wages as competition for cleaning contracts has intensified. They say workers who once made about $11 an hour now make about $7 an hour. The workers are asking Target and other retailers to agree to fair wage and working condition codes.

"We need to be really talking to the stores, because the stores are the ones that have the power to make this change," said cleaner Mario Colloly Torres at a Thursday news conference. "We're organized workers across different workplaces, and have come together to fight for a code of conduct that's fair, and that we would have wages that don't just comply with the law but are fair."

In a statement, Target stressed it does not employ the cleaners directly. The company said it contracts with outside vendors to provide housekeeping services for all of its stores. But Target said it requires all vendors to comply with all wage and other laws.