Vol. 74/No. 3      January 25, 2010

Service Employees International Union Local 26 represents more than 4,000 janitors who clean the majority of commercial buildings in the Twin Cities area. The union currently is bargaining on a new contract with cleaning contractors. Employers are insisting on the right to convert many full-time jobs to part-time and the right to increase the intensity of the work.

One worker told me that in the building he cleans the bosses have increased the workload by 20 percent, after firing 1,200 janitors last year, allegedly for having inadequate work papers.

Tom Fiske
Minneapolis, Minnesota

We received the following letter of appreciation for Mo Geary, who was a member of the Socialist Workers Party from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.

Mo Geary
Maurice “Mo” Geary, a member of the SWP for some 20 years, died December 29 at the age of 88 in Ferndale, Michigan. Mo, a former Catholic priest, joined the Detroit SWP branch in the late 1970s, when he was in his late 50s.

Mo had been very active in the civil rights movement, including going to Selma, Alabama, to join protests there. He officiated at the funeral of Viola Liuzzo, the Detroit woman who was killed by the Ku Klux Klan in Selma in 1965 following a civil rights march.

Mo’s history of political integrity helped him win countless endorsements and contributions to SWP defense campaigns. He championed the Militant and was usually among the top sub sellers in the Detroit branch during circulation drives.

Gary Boyers
Hamtramck, Michigan

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.

‘Militant’ Prisoners’ Fund
The Prisoners’ Fund makes it possible to send prisoners reduced rate subscriptions. To donate, send a check or money order payable to the Militant and earmarked “Prisoners’ Fund” to 306 W. 37th St., 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018.  
 
 
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