Victorious Houston janitors: ‘Si se puede’

A month-long strike led by mostly Latin@ janitors against five major cleaning corporations in Houston, Texas, ended Nov. 20. A majority of the 5,300 janitors involved were making only $20 a day in wages based on a four-hour work day. According to the Associated Press, “Under today’s agreement, the SEIU janitors will get a 50.5-percent pay raise over the two-year contract. Next Jan. 1, pay will increase to $6.25 an hour, a 21-percent increase over the current wage of $5.15 an hour. That will go up to $7.25 an hour on Jan. 1, 2008, and $7.75 on Jan. 1, 2009.” The workers will receive health care benefits beginning on Jan. 1, 2009. People view this contract as a major victory. It is their first city-wide union contract since these workers formed the union in November 2005.