Ana Leticia Salvador

In many ways, Ana Leticia Salvador is no different than other moms--she works hard to provide for her daughters Andrea and Raquel and dreams of one day being able to send them to college. Unfortunately, Ana Leticia faces a significant obstacle to achieving that dream: the $5.25 per hour she gets paid working as a janitor for Pritchard.

"We used to put money aside every month for their university education, but we can't do it anymore because we need every penny. Everything is so expensive," she says.

With a paycheck that amounts to less than $200 every two weeks, making sacrifices is not unusual in Ana Leticia's household. At the moment, Ana Leticia's home does not have a phone. "The money we make is not enough," she explains. "We can't pay for it. I just got an electric bill for $350--the bills are so high we're considering not using the washing machine or the dryer anymore."

Ana Leticia and her co-workers made history last fall when they chose to form a union with SEIU. "I got involved so that I could get a raise and get good benefits." Ana Leticia and her co-workers look forward to making improvements in their pay and winning access to health care in their first union contract, but the months waiting for the cleaning companies they work for to come to the bargaining table has not come without a price. Last summer, Ana Leticia's husband suffered a heart attack. "He went to the hospital but we do not have health insurance. Now we have a bill for more than $8,500," she says. "They keep on sending us bills in the mail but we can't pay it." Without insurance and earning so little money, Ana Leticia's husband was unable to go to a doctor for a check-up for months. When the couple received their income tax refund earlier this year, he was able to afford a single visit to the doctor.

Ana Leticia is determined to win a strong contract for her family and the families of her co-workers. "Having a good contract would mean we would be better off economically and have more opportunity in everything-more doors would open for us," she says. "Together I know we can win this struggle."

For her part, Ana Leticia's 5-year-old daughter Andrea is keeping her mother's dream alive. As Andrea puts it, "I like going to school. Someday I'd like to be a principal."