*PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT*
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TODAY:
Thursday, October 26, 2006
CONTACT:
Lynda Tran
202-907-1172
Houston Area Congressional Leaders to Call on Chevron to “Act Responsibly” in Houston and Country
HOUSTON –- Today, Thursday, October 26, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. Rep. Gene Green, and U.S. Rep. Al Green will meet with Ercilia Sandoval, one of the hundreds of janitors on strike in Houston. Ercilia Sandoval is not only battling breast cancer, but also fighting for health insurance for Houston families. Glamour magazine has chosen Ercilia as a finalist for "Woman of the Year."
Following the meeting they will hold a press conference with striking janitors and local community leaders to call on Chevron and other Houston building owners to urge their individual contractors to offer affordable health care, more hours, and higher wages.
The announcement of Congressional support and the appeal to Chevron and other area building owners comes less than 24 hours after more janitors were scheduled to walk off the job at the Aon Building in the Four Oaks Complex, which is managed by Transwestern and owned by TIAA-CREF, and only three days after hundreds of janitors kicked off the first wave of a historic strike in downtown Houston by walking off the job to protest bad treatment and the failure to bargain in good faith by the city’s five largest cleaning companies.
As the fourth largest company in the United States and a market leader in Houston, Chevron can play a crucial role by making it clear to their hired cleaning contractors that they believe health care is a necessity for Houston’s hard-working families.
WHO: Striking Houston Janitors, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. Rep. Gene Green, U.S. Rep. Al Green
WHAT: Press Conference calling on Chevron and its contractors to offer health care
WHEN: 3:30 PM Today - Thursday, October 26
WHERE: 1330 Post Oak Boulevard (Southeast corner of Post Oak Blvd. and Four Oaks Place. Across from the Four Oaks Place office complex)
Ercilia Sandoval, the Houston janitor continuing her battle against advanced stage breast cancer without health insurance, will also speak at the event. Workers nationwide are expected to participate in protest actions next week.
Houston’s multi-billion dollar real estate and oil industries are leaving families in total poverty—paying janitors only $20 a day, with no health or other benefits.
Contract talks for more than 5,300 janitors ended last Tuesday with Houston’s five largest cleaning companies refusing after months of negotiations to propose even modest pay and benefit improvements to janitors currently making only $20 a day. In addition, the cleaning companies are facing an investigation by the federal labor board over charges they illegally fired and intimidated janitors who have been involved in their union.
Janitors who clean the majority of Houston’s office space have the lowest wages and benefits of any major city in the United States—earning an average of $5.30/hour with no health or other benefits for almost exclusively part-time work. Since forming a union with SEIU last year, they have been seeking a raise to $8.50/hour, more hours, and health insurance in contract talks with the city’s five largest cleaning companies, ABM, OneSource, GCA, Sanitors, and Pritchard.