Things "ratchet up" in Houston
|
|
Comments |
Mail to a Friend
Categories: Corporate Accountability , Economic Fairness, Civil Rights, Immigration, Peace and Social Justice
Categories: Corporate Accountability , Economic Fairness, Civil Rights, Immigration, Peace and Social Justice
The struggle to obtain a union contract for 5,000 janitors who clean Houston office buildings continues.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is in currently in negotiations with the five major companies who clean commercial office buildings in Houston.
In the fall of 2005 when the janitors finally won recognition of their union a wave of excitment seemed to be spreading among the janitors and, particularly, in the Latino immigrant community.
The janitors, most of whom are recent immigrants to the United States, are rarely offered more than part-time hours at low wages - $5.15 an hour without access to affordable health care benefits. Many of the janitors work two or sometimes three part-time jobs to provide for their families. The lack of health insurance for these and many other workers in the State of Texas is particularly troubling beyond a purely moral argument, it's also an economic issue: health care for uninsured workers is often provided through state-run taxpayer programs.
As great and groundbreaking as the organizing victory was - no major union, other than public employees, had succesfully won an organizing campaign in Texas in decades - it was only the begining of a long process to get that first contract.
The building owners are trying to hide from the struggle, leaving the cleaning companies to try and justify not paying higher wages nor providing full-time jobs with health benefits. The reality, however, is that the office cleaning market is driven by the Chevrons and Shells, who own and often manage their own buildings. The cost to these billion dollar "profiteers" to provide higher, family-supporting wages and health care is minimal in terms of their yearly record profit levels.
The building owners will pay whatever the "market" demands. We need to make sure those market standards are higher, high enough to allow janitors to support familes and have basic health care.
The reaction of the cleaning companies, not suprisingly, is to push back and insist the wages and benefits asked for are too high.
We cannot allow the corporate community in Houston to duck away from this fight. The janitors have been bravely telling their story to the Houston community. Ercilia is a mother of two who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She has been a janitor for several years and has never had health insurance benefits. She couldn't afford to go to the doctor for routine check-ups and the cancer wasn't found until it had spread. She has told her two young daughters that she might not live to see the struggle for a union contract all the way to success.
I will arrive in Houston Monday afternoon to particpate firsthand in the campaign. Things are likely to escalate.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is in currently in negotiations with the five major companies who clean commercial office buildings in Houston.
In the fall of 2005 when the janitors finally won recognition of their union a wave of excitment seemed to be spreading among the janitors and, particularly, in the Latino immigrant community.
The janitors, most of whom are recent immigrants to the United States, are rarely offered more than part-time hours at low wages - $5.15 an hour without access to affordable health care benefits. Many of the janitors work two or sometimes three part-time jobs to provide for their families. The lack of health insurance for these and many other workers in the State of Texas is particularly troubling beyond a purely moral argument, it's also an economic issue: health care for uninsured workers is often provided through state-run taxpayer programs.
As great and groundbreaking as the organizing victory was - no major union, other than public employees, had succesfully won an organizing campaign in Texas in decades - it was only the begining of a long process to get that first contract.
The building owners are trying to hide from the struggle, leaving the cleaning companies to try and justify not paying higher wages nor providing full-time jobs with health benefits. The reality, however, is that the office cleaning market is driven by the Chevrons and Shells, who own and often manage their own buildings. The cost to these billion dollar "profiteers" to provide higher, family-supporting wages and health care is minimal in terms of their yearly record profit levels.
The building owners will pay whatever the "market" demands. We need to make sure those market standards are higher, high enough to allow janitors to support familes and have basic health care.
The reaction of the cleaning companies, not suprisingly, is to push back and insist the wages and benefits asked for are too high.
We cannot allow the corporate community in Houston to duck away from this fight. The janitors have been bravely telling their story to the Houston community. Ercilia is a mother of two who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She has been a janitor for several years and has never had health insurance benefits. She couldn't afford to go to the doctor for routine check-ups and the cancer wasn't found until it had spread. She has told her two young daughters that she might not live to see the struggle for a union contract all the way to success.
I will arrive in Houston Monday afternoon to particpate firsthand in the campaign. Things are likely to escalate.
