View source for Relations to Race, Class and Gender

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Custodial professions are a vital part of the American economy and differ from other unionized professions in the way that they cannot be outsourced. While coal mining, automobile production, and other unionized industries can be moved to other countries where labor laws allow lesser rights for their employees, there will always be buildings that need to be cleaned in the United States. As such, employers look for those that will work for less than the average salary in America. Unfortunately, these employees generally end up being those who are trapped under the glass ceiling of the lower class: Women, immigrants (documented and undocumented), and racialized others in a society that still implicitly discriminates against them. This is the classic example of the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. 

Due to the fact that protesters are comprised of such a diverse background, they often face the wrath of abusive supervisors and police officers. One janitor, Ericilia Sandoval, claims "Our supervisor screams at us all the time and he even throws cleaning supplies from our carts on the floor and makes us pick them up." She further claims that she was also sexually harassed. A more widespread example of violence occurred on June 15, 1990, in which 500 SEIU janitors for were brutally beaten by police officers in Central City, CA. This day is held in memory as Justice for Janitors Day, to commemorate the struggle and losses of these protesters.[http://www.seiu.org/property/janitors/about/stern_foreword.cfm]


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SEIU claims that it "represents more immigrants than any other union", further claiming to be among the most diverse unions in America. SEIU also claims that 50% of its leadership are women and people of color, which shows that the organization believes that race and gender are directly tied to their social movement. As such, the SEIU also campaigns for immigration reform, specifically protesting the 2006 H.R. Bill 4437, which would make "illegal" immigration a felony and punish employers that hired undocumented migrants. Thus, this push for equality shows that SEIU understands that it cannot alienate certain workers in order to protect others. As such, the nature of SEIU is one of true community understanding, organizing workers by class, ignoring race and gender, in order for the general improvement of workers in their profession.

Here are a few statements by SEIU on relevant political topics:

'''[[SEIU Statement on Migration]]'''

'''[[SEIU Statement on Healthcare]]'''




[[SEIU and Justice for Janitors | Back to Main Page]]