Thousands of hotel and skyscraper cleaning workers from Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Orange County and San Diego took to the streets to denounce the lack of a labor contract and as soon as next week they could declare on strike.
The contract for more than 20, 000 Janitors in California expired on 31 August and, if no resolution is reached in negotiations with their employers, they are ready for any action to end alleged unfair labor practices.
“If there is no agreement these days, the 100% of workers have already authorized the strike since 20 of August, ”David Huerta, president of the SEIU United Service Workers West (S EIU-USWW), representing more than 5, 000 janitors in Los Angeles.
Huerta announced that workers are demanding a living wage, which is in line with economic inflation and the employer offers a plan of Retirement.
“Many of our janitors continue to work until an age where they can no longer, because they cannot retire in a dignified way or they do not have money saved,” said Huerta. “But we are not begging them on our knees, but we demand that each worker be paid what they deserve.”
Considered essential workers, janitors are also fighting against the second wave of the pandemic of coronavirus, which killed approximately 40 to 50 in Los Angeles and a similar number in the rest of California.
“Up with the union! Down with exploitation!” during a noisy, peaceful march at noon in downtown Los Angeles, which caused intense chaos to vehicular traffic.
“I have 29 years working in this industry and what I earn , I am not enough to live, ”said Ana Silvia Cienfuegos, a Salvadoran woman, from 61 years.
As a result of the pandemic, she works only five hours and a half cleaning a building, so she had to get another part-time job to pay her rent, food, clothing, and car insurance.
“I do not want our health insurance or any of the rights we have won in the past to be taken away from us,” said Cienfuegos.
SEIU-USWW contractual negotiations are conducted with some of the largest employers in the industry, including ABLE, ABM, and Allied Universal Services that provide building cleaning services with the world’s largest companies such as Apple, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Gilead, Netflix, and Visa.
Trade unionists calculate that 17 of the 25 Most profitable US corporations won almost $ 85 billion more in 2020 than in previous years.
“It is probable that 9 decade 10 dollars of excess profits from a pandemic end up in the hands of white Americans, with only 32 pennies for Black and Latino communities, ”unionists said in a memorandum.
The janitors have achieved the support of the workers unionized to SEIU – 32 BJ, made up of 150, 000 workers from Connecticut, Philadelphia, Florida, New England, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vir ginia.
“If employers fight you, they fight us too,” stated Kyle Bragg, president of SEIU – 32 BJ.
The workers also have the support of the Los Angeles councilors, Curren Price Jr., and Kevin de León, who marched with them most of the two miles of travel, from the central library from the city, south of Figueroa Street and to the offices of the SEIU United Service Workers West, on Washington Boulevard.
“We will fight together with you for better wages and to ensure a retirement with respect and dignity, ”said Councilor Price.
For his part, De León stated that “the invincible workers are already tired of being trampled on; What we want goes further, because it is about dignity and respect manifesting itself in a good salary that we have earned with the sweat of our brow. ”
David Huerta informed that the SEIU-USWW has sufficient funds to help the 17, 000 custodians if the work stoppage becomes effective.
At press time, no representative of ABM, one of the leading companies in the negotiations with union members, responded to messages and emails from Real America News for an interview.