SEIU and Justice for Janitors (SEIU)
Founding of the SEIU and the creation of Justice for Janitors
One of the first unions to represent janitors, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), was created in 1921 by immigrant janitors (SEIU925.com). Today, in addition to representing janitors in the division titled "Property Services", SEIU is the "fastest growing union in North America" with 1.8 million members representing workers in fields from healthcare to public service (SEIU.org). Janitors for Justice was founded as the activist movement within SEIU in 1986, in response to undercutting schemes enacted between corporations and independent contracting services which provided janitorial services to companies and buildings. According to author Carter Wright:
"Throughout the 1980s, large real estate owners sought to shed costs by contracting cleaning services out to building service contractors, who competed by pushing down wages and underbidding rival contractors. If the union asked building owners for a raise, the owners shrugged off any responsibility and passed the buck on to the contractors that technically employed the workers. When the union went to confront the contractor, it would claim it couldn't afford a raise because the owner paid so little for cleaning services" (Wright 12).
Because of this ruse, wages were nearly cut in half and health benefits were almost entirely removed from janitors in the mid 1980s (Wright). However, Justice for Janitors found success in coercing janitorial contracting companies into sharing the profits which they were earning from their exploitation by creating communities of janitors in an individual urban area.
Activism and Techniques Utilized by Justice for Janitors
One of the reasons which SEIU and Justice for Janitors is so successful is the aforementioned creation of a community of janitors. This is the strategy taken by SEIU according to a 2005 article in the The Economist:
"Rather than mounting a campaign at each workplace separately, it will negotiate one big industry-wide contract. This, in theory, eliminates each cleaning company's fear of being undercut by competitors if it allows higher wages. The companies agreed to stay neutral. The strategy bypasses the National Labour Relations Board, which usually oversees the unionisation of workers. That is a bonus in a place like Houston, where undocumented workers would rather not get the government involved."
As such, since many buildings nationwide have their custodial services managed by larger corporations in multiple cities, Janitors for Justice and SEIU worked to make as many contracts expire in 2000 as possible, allowing for a nationwide movement for increased rights for janitors. Janitors for Justice also commonly
However, when mediation and arbitration are unsuccessful, Janitors for Justice takes large strides to inform building owners that it is their responsibility to ensure that contractors adequately pay and support their employees. Specific instances of Janitors for Justice action can be seen in the 2000 movie Bread and Roses. In this film, protests by other janitors in front of non-unionized buildings are organized by Janitors for Justice. When this is ineffective, spokesmen from Janitors for Justice even attempt to work their way into a building-wide luncheon, in which all executives in the building are informed of the injustices executed upon the janitors in their building. Hunger strkes, civil disobedience , and walkouts are also common strategies which Janitors for Justice utilizes to achieve their mission.
Results of Janitors for Justice
Relations to Race, Class and Gender
