Janitors in L.A. rally for strikers in Houston
Chanting “No Justice, No Peace,” a group of janitors in purple T-shirts rallied Wednesday night outside the Century City building where they work, demonstrating in solidarity with striking Houston janitors.
The rally is an effort by the Service Employees International Union to force five major cleaning contractors to raise wages and provide benefits for about 5,300 Houston janitors who affiliated with the union last year. But the cleaning firms and the union have failed to reach an agreement, prompting the strike that began last month.
The 20 men and women walked off their jobs at the high-rise building at 10100 Santa Monica Blvd., where they work for OneSource Management Inc., one of the largest national janitorial contractors. Several rush-hour motorists honked in sympathy with the picketers.
Ascension Blanco, 60, an SEIU janitor who came from Houston to participate in the series of Los Angeles rallies that began with Wednesday night’s demonstration, said her goal was to “build support for the Houston janitors.”
Blanco, who works for ABM Janitorial Services, another major contractor, earns $5.15 an hour and generally works only four-hour shifts. Janitors who work for the same companies in Los Angeles earn about $11.30 an hour and are eligible for full-time work and healthcare benefits.
OneSource supervisors at the Century City building declined comment.
Ricardo Salmeron, 51, who was picketing Wednesday night, has worked in the building for eight years. “I’m just one grain of sand but this rally is important because it connects to our struggles here,” he said, adding, “the only reason we won good wages in Los Angeles is because we stood together.”
The Los Angeles janitors’ strike in 2000, which resulted in a major hike in wages and benefits, is seen as a milestone in labor’s efforts to reach low-wage workers.
The pickets are an attempt to counter the clout of national and global employers by staging labor actions that reach beyond one city. Demonstrations are also planned in Chicago, New York and other cities.
Mike Garcia, president of SEIU Local 1877 in Los Angeles, said Wednesday’s demonstration is the first of a series of rallies at local buildings in coming days that are designed to generate support for the Houston janitors.
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