FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
June 15, 2005 

CONTACT:     
Maria Elena Jauregui, 818-355-5291      
Andrew McDonald, 713-514-0005     

Local Janitors Eligible to Join Class Action Lawsuit Over Unlawful Pay Practices

As Justice for Janitors Week Concludes, Janitors, Community Groups, SEIU Call On Janitorial Industry to Clean Up Its Act

HOUSTON -- Local janitors are eligible to join a growing class action lawsuit over unlawful pay practices that could involve thousands of workers and millions of dollars.  Houston janitors leading a city-wide effort to form a union were joined by SEIU and community leaders today in calling on the janitorial industry to clean up its act and ensure that all workers are compensated according to the law.

"Our employers know that most janitors won't speak up if they don't pay overtime" said Martín Vazquez, a janitor cleans an office building in downtown Houston.  "One of the reasons we want a union is to make sure all workers are treated fairly.  We are trying to support our families on the wages we make."

Janitors who worked for Contract Cleaning Services cleaning United Parcel Service facilities, hotels, offices, and other sites in Texas and Illinois worked as much as 60 hours a week without being paid overtime and had money stripped from their wages by their employer to pay for workers' comp insurance, according to the lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of the janitors with the assistance of the nation's largest janitors union, SEIU.  SEIU Local 1, based in Chicago, first identified these practices and brought them to the attention of counsel.

"Companies that don't pay overtime drive down wages for the whole industry, making it almost impossible for honest companies to compete," said SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina.  "We are watching, and we will go after companies that break the law."

Once rare, large class action suits on behalf of workers who are routinely denied overtime pay or other compensation are on the rise and could cost law-breaking employers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several years.  SEIU is leading an effort to police janitorial companies -- and the corporations that hire them -- that skirt the law.

In January, 2,000 mostly Latino janitors who clean California supermarkets won $22.4 million in a landmark settlement of a class action lawsuit initiated by SEIU involving the failure of subcontractors to pay their employees according to overtime and minimum wage laws.  The janitors, who are receiving as much as $9,000 each in the settlement, were employed by subcontractors of the national supermarket chains Safeway, Vons, Albertsons, and Ralph's.

According to the Department of Labor, 2.2 million hourly workers earn at or below the minimum wage, and complaints filed against employers have risen dramatically over the last few years.

In August 2004, a janitorial company that cleaned Target stores agreed to pay $1.9 million in back wages to 775 employees following charges the firm broke federal overtime laws.  SEIU and the Los Angeles-based Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, a labor-management watchdog group, conducted the original investigation and referred the case to the Labor Department.  The Federal Government has found similar practices at Wal-Mart stores.

About "Justice for Janitors Week"

The week of June 15 has been observed for 15 years in the United States following a successful strike in 1990 by mainly immigrant janitors in Century City, a wealthy financial district in Los Angeles. Striking workers, members of SEIU, were holding a peaceful protest against the multinational janitorial firm that employed them when they were savagely beaten by police. The incident provoked a public outcry in the U.S. and abroad. With the assistance of workers and unions overseas, many of whom worked for the same company as the Los Angeles janitors, the workers won their strike and secured better wages and benefits.  Now recognized across the globe, the week of June 15 is marked as a time when janitors and other workers who secure, clean, and maintain office buildings speak out for justice.

Materials Available

• B-roll of Texas janitors marching for justice and comments from SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina are available in audio and/or video formats.
• To set up an- interview, please call Maria Elena Jaurejui at 818-355-5291