FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, November 6, 2006

CONTACT:
Lynda Tran
202-907-1172

Janitors File More than a Dozen New Charges Against Cleaning Contractors for Illegal Firings, Threats, and Harassment

HOUSTON—Cleaning contractors in Houston have unleashed an unprecedented campaign to punish workers who support the union or who are on strike. Since the strike began on Monday, October 23, at least 14 janitors have been fired for deciding to strike, and dozens of others have been threatened, harassed and intimidated for participating in union activity. 

To date, janitors have filed thirty-five charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for illegally retaliating against employees who’ve formed a union with SEIU. 

“All I ever wanted was to have a better life and to be able to afford the basic things all families need,” says Mateo Portillo. “But I was fired for speaking out for a better future for myself and for other hard-working families in our city.”

“Given two options, one that would put all of Houston on a path to a better future and one that continues to deny basic civil rights to people on the bottom, the cleaning companies seem to have chosen illegally to intimidate and coerce hard-working janitors,” says the Reverend David Meeker-Williams. “This is not our Houston."

More than 1,700 janitors are on strike in key buildings in Galleria, Greenway Plaza, and downtown Houston. Janitors who clean the majority of Houston’s office space have among 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, more than 5,300 janitors 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.

Houston janitors walked off the job October 23 when the national cleaning companies they work for refused to bargain in good faith, and instead launched a campaign to fire and intimidate workers who spoke out for job improvements. For more information, go to houstonjanitors.org

Janitors are available to talk to interested members of the media about their experiences. Please contact SEIU’s Lynda Tran for more information.