Most of the 151,000 janitors in SEIU have won wages that are far above the national average for janitorial employ- ees. In 2008, a nonunion janitor was paid about $412 per week. By contrast, SEIU janitors earned as much as $920 per week in New York City, $592 per week in Chicago, $519 in Minneapolis, and $527 in Los Angeles. La plupart des 151 000 agents d'entretien membres de SEIU ont gagné des salaires qui s'élèvent largement au-dessus de la moyenne nationale pour les agents d'entretien. En 2008, un agent d'entretien gagnait $412 par semaine. Les agents d'entretien membres de SEIU gagnaient eux $920 par semaine à New York, $592 à Chicago, $519 à Minneapolis, et $527 à Los Angeles.

1. SEIU Janitors Achieve Big Wage, Bene t Gains
e victory of the Houston janitors was one piece in a that “go rst” in respecting workers’ right to form unions
mosaic of success for their movement. Some 40,000 janitors aren’t underbid and driven out of business before their com-
have chosen to unite in SEIU since 1996. As of 2010, about petitors agree to recognize the union.
44 percent of all janitors in 25 of the 30 largest commercial e SEIU strategy has brought big wins for janitors.
o ce markets in the United States were SEIU members. Local 32BJ, led by Mike Fishman, began in 2001 to reach
Critics of SEIU, including right-wing talk show hosts out to unite thousands of nonunion janitors in the markets
and even some on the left, argue that the union’s strong fo- between New York City and Washington, D.C. e union
cus on organizing comes at the expense of members who used the hallmark tactics of SEIU janitorial organizing—
are shortchanged at the bargaining table. e actual record multiday strikes, outreach to the religious community, rallies
easily refutes such claims. at worksites and corporate headquarters, and lea eting. By
Most of the 151,000 janitors in SEIU have won wages 2003, 47 contractors in New Jersey signed the master col-
that are far above the national average for janitorial employ- lective bargaining agreement. Two years later, nearly 5,000
ees. In 2008, a nonunion janitor was paid about $412 per New Jersey janitors had joined SEIU and won a 24 percent
week. By contrast, SEIU janitors earned as much as $920 wage increase as well as improved healthcare coverage.
per week in New York City, $592 per week in Chicago, $519 Similar successes occurred in the Philadelphia suburbs
in Minneapolis, and $527 in Los Angeles. where workers who were paid as little as $6.50 an hour got
And 21 of SEIU’s collective bargaining agreements strong support from SEIU janitors in central Philadelphia
covering janitors include family healthcare coverage and an- who worked for many of the same contractors. e sub-
other 10 include individual healthcare coverage. urban janitors won wage gains of up to 60 percent and
Key to winning good contracts for janitors has been employer-sponsored health coverage for the rst time after
SEIU’s e ort to engage the real decision-makers—the build- gaining union recognition in 2006.
ing owners—in discussions about using responsible contrac- Gains also occurred in the Washington, D.C., suburbs
tors that respect workers’ right to form unions and negoti- and Baltimore where primarily Latino and African-Ameri-
ate good contracts. e union has won recognition often can o ce cleaners used many of the same tactics downtown
from employers through majority sign-up, rather than via D.C. janitors had used years earlier to win a rst contract.
elections that unfairly favor companies that delay the pro- By the end of 2009, nearly 3,000 commercial o ce jani-
cess; foment high turnover; and harass, intimidate, and re tors in northern Virginia united in SEIU. e union built
union supporters. on the successes of the rekindled immigrant rights move-
In many cases, the union has won agreements from con- ment to engage poverty-wage cleaners in a series of strikes
tractors to take part in marketwide master contract negotia- in late 2007. Under the resulting master contract, north-
tions once a critical mass (often between 50 percent and 60 ern Virginia cleaners won nearly 30 percent more in wages,
percent) of all similar contractors in the market agreed to do guaranteed paid sick leave and vacations, and employer-paid
the same. Such “trigger agreements” mean that contractors health bene ts.

2. e success of Local 32BJ in organizing and winning had become SEIU members and won master contracts that
good contracts on the East Coast had parallels elsewhere. raised wages, provided a ordable health insurance, began
In Boston, 2,000 janitors at 97 buildings went on strike the transition to full-time work, and extended the freedom
for three weeks in 2002 to win better wages for all 11,000 to choose a union through majority sign-up to cleaners at
Boston-area janitors. e settlement resulted in 30 percent other sites in the three cities.
wage increases, extension of health insurance, equal pay “I’m proud of what we have accomplished,” said Cin-
for 1,000 part-time workers, and the addition of two paid cinnati janitor Lauressie “Dee Dee” Tillman of the rst city-
sick days. wide union contract won by workers like her. “Not just for
In Chicago, SEIU’s Tom Balano and other leaders us and our families, but for all of the workers in this city who
helped win a strike of suburban Chicago janitors who gained are paid so little.”
full, employer-paid health insurance. at success spurred Chapter 3 describes the struggle of Los Angeles-area
a wave of organizing by nonunion janitors in the Chicago janitors to regain strength lost during a decline in the late
suburbs to unite with their fellow cleaners in SEIU Local 1980s. Another major strike occurred in Los Angeles in
1. Within two years of the strike, the proportion of all Chi- 2000 when the janitors there—largely immigrants and
cago suburban janitors who belong to SEIU had increased to women—won a historic victory after massive marches and
more than 80 percent from less than 60 percent. civil disobedience aimed at contractors that refused to pay
SEIU’s Chicago janitors who worked at a rm called livable wages. Workers at Local 1877 gained wage increases
Lakeside used their leverage to back janitors in Columbus, of more than 25 percent along with provisions requiring em-
Ohio, who worked for the same company. e Chicago ployers to absorb all health insurance cost increases.
janitors honored picket lines set up by the Columbus jani- Gains for L.A. janitors led later to nearly 3,000 Orange
tors and management responded by ring two dozen of the County janitors—many working for the same contractors
Chicago workers. An intensive three-week campaign result- SEIU members had struck in Los Angeles—joining SEIU
ed in Lakeside agreeing and, within a year, win-
to both a majority sign- JANITORS’ WEEKLY WAGES, 2008 ning wage increases of
up process for the Co- $1.20 an hour as well
lumbus janitors to join as family healthcare
SEIU and also to return coverage.171
the red Chicago work- Barbara Shulman
ers to their jobs. of the SEIU Research
By early 2008, Department provided or-
commercial janitors ganizing and bargaining
in Columbus, Cincin- data for this and other
nati, and Indianapolis boxes in this book.