Working Together to Find a Solution to the Health Care Crisis
More than 5,300 janitors who clean the majority of Houston's office buildings are currently working with elected and religious leaders, community organizations, and responsible businesses to find solutions to the health care crisis and improve access to affordable health care for thousands of Houstonians.
A model for increasing access to health care that keeps businesses competitive
The SEIU Justice for Janitors campaign is a proven first step in creating a workable model for increasing access to care for service sector workers.
Across the country, janitors who've formed a union with SEIU have been able to increase access to health care through a market-wide approach with their employers and their clients. By uniting workers across entire metropolitan areas and negotiating one master contract covering all janitors within these markets, SEIU janitors have ensured that no building owners or cleaning contractors are put at a competitive disadvantage by providing health care benefits and improving wages for their employees.
In markets where janitors do receive health insurance, employers have enjoyed the benefits of a more stable, productive workforce with lower turnover and recruitment costs. Tenants in these markets have come to take high-quality service for granted.
In Silicon Valley, for example, a number of leading companies stepped forward to take responsibility for health care for janitors, including 3Com, Genentech, and EBay. In 2003, Genentech, a biotech company in the San Francisco Bay Area, offered the following statement:
"As a leading health care company, Genentech believes that health care benefits for janitorial workers is a very important issue," the company said. "Although it is important to point out that these are not Genentech employees, we value the employees of [the contractor] who support our facilities and are pleased to offer to contribute substantially to the cost of health care benefits for these workers for the coming contract period." SOURCE: "Genentech to pay janitors' premiums," San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 2003.
State and federal legislation improving access to care
In cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, SEIU janitors have successfully worked with community organizations and businesses to push for increased access for all working people in their communities.
Nationwide, janitors and other SEIU members are also involved in efforts to win legislation to improve access to affordable health care for working families. At state and federal levels, SEIU members are working to:
Improve health care funding. As part of a national campaign to improve health care funding, SEIU members are working with community groups, health care providers, civil rights groups, and other organizations to stop Medicaid cuts that would eliminate coverage for seniors and children and drive up costs for families with private insurance.
Ensure corporations pay their fair share for health care. To ensure big corporations take responsibility for their fair share of health care and provide good jobs with health care for hard-working people, SEIU members around the country are working to pass "Fair Share Health Care" legislation that would require large, profitable employers to pay a percentage of their payroll towards providing affordable health care to their employees or pay that money into a state fund to defray the costs of uncompensated medical care to taxpayers.