Photo By Joe Lamb

Geraldine Gibson and Tim Finucan (facing camera) march toward the Fifth Third Building to appeal for better treatment of its janitorial staff. Several organizers were arrested in the building.

Next week could be make or break time for Greater Cincinnati's burgeoning "Justice for Janitors" movement to get better wages and benefits for the workers who clean area office buildings.

The local chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) voted July 14 to authorize a strike if ongoing contract negotiations with cleaning companies aren't successful. Negotiations will next occur in a two-day session July 25-26, according to Lynda Tran, a union spokeswoman.

About 200 janitorial workers attended the strike authorization vote, and the vast majority favored granting the authority to local SEIU leaders in a visual vote, Tran adds. The decision means the union representing more than 1,200 janitors who clean the majority of the region's office space could call for a strike at any time, if deemed necessary.

Cutthroat competition
Janitors have been called "America's invisible workers" because they often perform their tasks in high-rise corporate office towers before white-collar employees arrive for the business day or after they have left.

SEIU has coordinated similar campaigns to organize janitors in various U.S. cities over the past few years including Boston, Indianapolis, Seattle and Houston. Without better wages and benefits for the workers, the United States is increasingly beginning to "resemble a Third World country," one union leader says.

The union's local chapter formed in December and has been negotiating with area cleaning companies since March.

Leaders are seeking increased pay and better access to health care for its members. Although Greater Cincinnati is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies with a combined estimated annual revenue of $177 billion, many janitors are paid less than $28 each day with no health care or other benefits.

"What the companies are offering so far falls short," Tran says. "There's no way that a person could support themselves or a family on what's been offered. We're looking for a living wage."

Negotiations are underway with eight cleaning companies: ABM, Jancoa, Professional Maintenance of Cincinnati, Aetna Building Maintenance, Scioto Corp, NSG, OneSource, and GSF. Combined, they provide cleaning services to about two-thirds of the region's office space, including for major corporations such as Fifth-Third Bank, Procter & Gamble, Convergys, Macy's and Western & Southern.

Getting a wide segment of the region's janitorial workers involved with the effort was crucial, the union says.

"The industry is cutthroat and set up to undercut each other by trying to offer the lowest price for their services," Tran explains. "When we go into an area, SEIU organizes the majority of a market so no one is put at a competitive disadvantage."

Medicine or rent?
After more than a year of organizing, SEIU's "Justice for Janitors" movement is increasing pressure on local companies. On July 11, a few days before the strike vote, the union staged an event in the lobby of Fifth-Third Bank's downtown headquarters. Four janitors and two other supporters asked to see the firm's CEO to appeal for his help in dealing with the cleaning companies.

After security asked the contingent to leave, five people were arrested by Cincinnati Police and charged with criminal trespassing: James B. Brown, 46; Juanita Sanchez, 32; Sarah Shamel, 65; Lauressie Tillman, 49; and Linda Watson, 49. The charge is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.

Those involved said the entire incident lasted about 90 seconds before they were arrested.

The people detained were held for about seven hours at the Hamilton County Justice Center before they were released on their own recognizance. They are awaiting a trial date.

Linda Watson, one of the janitors arrested, believes corporate executives don't like to meet their cleaning crews face to face because it's easier to pay them sub-par wages.

"They have refused to recognize we are even human beings," says Watson, 48, a worker for ABM.

Watson, who is diabetic and makes about $7 an hour, describes a typical dilemma faced by many janitors.

"By the time I buy my medicine, there's no money left," she says. "So, what do I do: Not buy medicine or not pay the rent?"

Despite her arrest, Watson has no regrets.

"If I had to do it again, I would," she says. "It's not just for me, it's for my kids and my community. This has got to change."

SEIU's efforts have won the support of about 60 local religious and community organizations including the AMOS Project, the Faith Community Alliance, the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, Interfaith Worker Justice and other labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, UNITE and members of the national Change to Win federation, which includes the Teamsters.

"Cincinnati janitors' fight is really relevant to our community because so many of our neighbors are facing the same challenges," said the Rev. Rousseau O'Neal, president of the Faith Community Alliance and head of the Rockdale Baptist Church, in a prepared statement. "Our church begins every week with a pantry full of food that is emptied by the end of the week by people who have jobs but they can't afford to make ends meet without the good-paying jobs Cincinnati needs." ©