Flora Aguilar

Flora Aguilar brings home $418 a month working as a janitor in a downtown Houston office building. Her monthly bills are more than her income: $425 for rent, $30 gas, $44 phone and $10 to pay the bus fare to take her to work. Her husband's income as a construction worker makes up the difference.

She works Monday through Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. cleaning 60 offices in just four hours. Because she doesn't have a car, she relies on the bus for transportation. When she is late to work, she is docked 30 minutes pay regardless of how many minutes late she is.

She has no health insurance and does not qualify for the gold card for medical assistance. When she gets sick, she must rely on home remedies to get better. Flora was forced to care for herself when she was injured on the job. One night during her shift she cut her wrist while changing the toilet paper. She reported it to her supervisor, who never called an ambulance or offered to take her to the hospital -- Flora was just supposed to cure herself. She did and as a result she has lost feeling in her wrist.

There was a time when she did get very ill and was forced to seek medical attention something that cost her $240. She did not have the money to pay the bill and had to ask her brother for a loan to pay the expense.

"All I want is respect and justice for workers like me. Everyone should have the security and peace of mind that comes with good wages, paid holidays, vacations and sick days."