Hundreds of janitors and their allies in San Diego and Los Angeles held demonstrations this week to demand better wages and working conditions as part of a coordinated series of rallies statewide in support of a bill that would limit workloads in the janitorial industry.
AB 2364 would also provide stronger protections for janitorial workers.
The demonstrations by the janitors, who are represented by Services Employees International Union-United Services Workers West, also came as their contract — which covers approximately 20,000 janitors and which covers several subcontractors — is set to expire at the end of April.
Workers rallied to discuss their demands, raise awareness about worker abuses, and to call for whistleblower protections, including from deportations, according to the union. In San Diego, workers spoke about exploitation and overwork on large biotech campuses that have left many exhausted or injured.
In California, a large portion of janitors are women as well as immigrants, leaving them potentially vulnerable to sexual harassment as well as other forms of exploitation.
“Building owners and contractors have systematically taken advantage of workers, and workers have had enough, particularly on the issue of workload,” said Sebastian Silva, a spokesperson with the SEIU-USWW.
He highlighted a recent survey by the state Department of Industrial Relations that found that more than one in three janitors were injured on the job due to excessive workloads.
Low pay is also a factor, said union members.
“We don’t want anything that is not cash in my members pockets, right?” . “Because that’s the best compliment anyone can give our families.”
“This is what the beauty is in belonging to a union,” SEIU-USWW member Evangelina Lopez said during the rally in Los Angeles Tuesday.
“We won’t just leave. We want long-term sustainability. We want to be able to retire with dignity, and that means having a strong contract.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
