About 240 laundry workers went on strike Monday at Health Systems Cooperative Laundries in St. Paul to protest their loss of sick days.

Members of Workers United Local 150 said they voted down the company's "last, best, and final offer" on July 26.

Despite Monday's walkout, the two sides remained in federal mediation in Minneapolis late Monday afternoon, union officials said.

Employees, mostly Hmong, Latino and Somali immigrants who often work in temperatures over 100 degrees, "poured out of the building at 1 p.m. today, completely shutting down operations at the commercial laundry facility," union officials said.

Cooperative Laundries managers reached by phone Monday declined to comment.

The cooperative provides hospital bed sheets and other linens to health facilities across the Twin Cities including Fairview Hospitals, Hennepin County Medical Center, Allina Health East and Park Nicollet.

"Going on strike is not something we wanted to do, but our workers said, 'Enough is enough,' " said Julie Boots, area director for Local 150. "The company first took away our four sick days a year. I guess they wanted workers to come to work sick despite working with medical linens."

Besides the sick days, the union said the cooperative board demanded an end to a policy that had given workers up to six months of unpaid leave for family emergencies abroad. It also sought the right to alter the labor contract at any time without bargaining and to terminate all labor agreements should the business be sold.

"Our folks just want to get back to work, but they are not going to sign away all their protections and let the company run all over them," Boots said. Members of the Service Employees International Union joined the picket line Monday as a sign of support.

Cretex dispute

Separately Monday, about 40 union members from the Cretex concrete factory in Shakopee entered their seventh week on strike. They will gain some support Tuesday as national union leaders and state legislators join a rally to keep worker pensions.

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and House Speaker Paul Thissen will attend a 10 a.m. rally Tuesday with workers in front of the Cretex plant, which makes manhole covers, sewer pipes and other concrete construction products.

Terry O'Sullivan, president of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) will also attend and speak.

Talks between management and union workers broke down in June after Cretex Concrete Products said it would freeze pension benefits and switch workers to a 401(k) plan instead.

Cretex officials said they will match workers' contributions under the new 401(k) plan, but will discontinue pensions at Shakopee just as they have at other Cretex facilities.

No new talks are scheduled between Cretex workers and managers.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725