Janitors in San Diego County want health benefits and they are ready to fight for them.
About 1400 janitors who work in the county but outside of downtown San Diego voted yesterday to strike over lack of benefits. The strike could begin as early as Monday.
The janitors work primarily in large buildings in La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Sorrento Mesa, Mission Valley and Carlsbad. They work in facilities operated by companies such as GenProbe, Amylin, Pfizer, Invitrogen and Elan Pharmaceuticals. Among the landlords or property managers of the buildings are Arden Realty, the Irvine Co., H.G. Fenton, Trammell Crow and CB Richard Ellis.
Under their expired labor contract, these suburban janitors earn $7.60 an hour, which is 85 cents less per hour than downtown janitors, who also have paid health care.
As reported in the San Diego Union Tribune the suburban janitors whose net income averages out to a little over $1,000 per month have no health benefits presently for themselves or their families.
Service Employees International Union Local 1877 (SEIU 1877) local director Mike Wilzoch said, "We're not talking about big money here…” He added, "San Diego is one of the richest real estate markets in the United States." He stressed that companies that service the large defense, industrial, biotec, and pharmaceutical companies that inhabit the county can afford to pay up on benefits."
The union has proposed a three-year contract that would boost hourly salaries by 90 cents per hour. It is also asking for company-paid health care, a 10th annual holiday to bring the suburban janitors in line with downtown janitors and three weeks of vacation after eight years on the job, rather than the 10 years now required.
RisMedia quotes Mike Garcia, president of SEIU 1877, "The negotiations are taking us backward. When that happens, people are left with little choice but to strike. I'd say there is a strong likelihood for our members to strike right now." Garcia said health coverage is of primary concern in the labor talks. "These are people who are trying to bring themselves up out of poverty and getting health insurance is the way they are going to do that," he said. "They are not going to work three more years without it.”
Dick Davis, who is a negotiator for the janitorial companies agrees, at least, with that prediction, "I'm very pessimistic that we'll be able to get a contract this week, and that probably will mean a strike."
During the campaign for downtown janitors, Garcia declared, "Health care for the working poor should not be an afterthought – it is essential to growing healthy and stable communities.”
SEIU Local 1877 proclaims, “For the past 15 years janitors have led the struggle to win a union despite many, many obstacles. Using new ways of organizing and relying on the power of Local 1877 members and non-union workers, we have united to win power and strong contracts from San Diego to Sacramento. In every major California city, workers have sacrificed for the fight, but because of it we have more dignity and respect on the job, health benefits and decent wages.” Sources: RisMedia, 10 News (San Diego), San Diego Union Tribune, SEIU Local 1877
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