SEIU Unionizes 5,000 in Houston
By Karl-Thomas Musselman
I've been slow to catch up on this one due to classes, but thanks to Kuff and MyDD for picking it up.
Janitors who clean Houston's big buildings at near-minimum wage rates have won the right to begin negotiations with their employers for higher pay and benefits.
The Service Employees International Union announced Wednesday that a majority of the 4,700 janitors who work for four of the city's largest cleaning companies have joined its ranks.
For Houston's labor movement, SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign is its most successful organizing drive in 25 years, signaling potentially higher wages and benefits for janitors and higher costs for building tenants.
"Wages are clearly the No. 1 issue," said Dan Schlademan, vice president of SEIU Local 1 in Chicago, who was in Houston for the announcement.
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The janitors earn an average hourly wage of $5.30 and receive no health care benefits, according to the union. The minimum wage is $5.15.
"Today, I am very pleased to say we did it, Houston janitors," Flora Aguilar told the dozens of janitors who crowded into a conference room at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston for the festive announcement that was accompanied by a mariachi band and janitors banging on plastic buckets.
SEIU officials said that with the support from the majority of janitors at the four companies — ABM Janitorial Services, Sanitors Services of Texas, OneSource Facility Services and GCA Services Group — it will represent 62 percent of those who clean the city's big buildings.
You might want to check out the SEIU of Texas website as well. Even in Texas, certainly not a Union friendly state, the movement is making progress. I think it may be more of a sign of the new labor movement though (of which SEUI is a part of) than Labor at large, but that will play out over time. I've greatly appreciated the SEIU, one for the work it does and employees in the union. Plus they endorsed Howard Dean and stuck with him even after Iowa.
Posted by Karl-Thomas Musselman at December 2, 2005 12:47 AM
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Texas is one of the fun "right to work" states. Which basically means you can form unions but you dont have to join the union to work in the job that the union covers. My bf works at Kroger which is unionized, but I dont think he ever joined the union. However the union will represent them during work disputes, etc. nonetheless. And one of the main reasons my company has an office in Dallas is its right to not have to unionize (as our Los Angeles office is union, and the main New Jersey office is in federal court over union vote tampering for that office).
"Now, look for janitors to start taking two-hour breaks and making calls for Democratic candidates on company time."
You must be confusing janitors using company time and company phones for political purpose with Kay Bailey Hutchison and her staff.
