Ercilia Sandoval

Ercilia Sandoval has been a fighter her whole life. For the past nine years she has been struggling to support her family while earning poverty-level wages as a janitor with GCA Services Group. Last fall, Ercilia was a key leader in the historic efforts by more than 5,300 Houston janitors to form a union with SEIU. This year, she is facing her biggest battle yet--the fight against breast cancer.

Since arriving in the United States, the American Dream has evaded Ercilia and her family. Ercilia earns only $5.25 an hour and has no health insurance or other benefits through her employer. For years Ercilia and her family have experienced the daily fear of living without health insurance--sometimes having to choose between putting food on the table and paying a visit to the doctor. Her five year-old daughter Jennifer briefly qualified for Medicaid and was able to have her cavities filled, but her seven year-old Genesis has cavities that have gone unattended for more than a year. Earlier this year, their worst nightmare was realized when Ercilia went to the emergency room for pains in her chest and was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Since her employer does not provide health insurance, Ercilia must count on an overburdened public safety-net to receive treatment for her cancer. "I've been able to get a Gold Card, but that's only temporary. It'll cover my treatments for another few weeks, but after that I don't know what I'm going to do," she says.

 

erciliaandfamily.jpg

Low-Paid, Uninsured Janitor with Breast Cancer a Finalist for Glamour's "Woman of the Year"

Latina immigrant leading fight to expand health insurance for all working families in Houston as part of union contract

Ercilia Sandoval, a mother of two, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and does not receive health insurance from her employer. She is leading a courageous struggle by thousands of low-wage Houston janitors, most of whom are Latina women. More.

childposter1.jpg 

Work as a janitor is the only occupation Ercilia has known since arriving in Houston. She claims that the worst part about her current job is the humiliation she must endure: "Our supervisor screams at us all the time and he even throws cleaning supplies from our carts on the floor and makes us pick them up."

When Ercilia was offered the chance to work additional hours for more money, she jumped at the opportunity. "They told us we would clean for eight hours at $6 an hour but when we got our checks they paid us $5.25 for six hours of work. When we protested, they just told us they didn't have the money to pay us what they had promised," says Ercilia.

In spite of their fears, Ercilia--with her daughters by her side--continues to fight. As a member of her union bargaining committee, Ercilia and her co-workers are currently negotiating for increased pay, more work hours, and access to health care with their employers.

Ercilia's daughter Genesis has plans to help her mom. "I want to gather all the kids who have parents working for these companies and meet with the owners so that they will pay workers well and give them health insurance so that they can get care," says Genesis.