NEW YORK
Janitors march for justice on Wall Street
By Pat
Chin
New York
June 15 was International Justice for Janitors Day. To mark
the occasion, demonstrations organized by the Service Employees
union were held in 14 U.S. cities and around the world.
In New York thousands of building-service workers from Local
32B-32J surged into the streets of downtown Manhattan for a
march on Wall Street, the hub of world finance capital and home
of the Stock Exchange. Local 32B-32J is the city's largest
janitors' union.
Targeting Wall Street reflects the new mood of struggle and
growing activism since former Local 32B-32J President Gus
Bevona resigned in February and the local was taken over by the
national union.
Since then, workers have been making militant demands for
better pay and benefits, improved working conditions and
respect. This year they celebrated Justice for Janitors Day by
taking to the streets "to protest unfair cleaning contractors
like Golden Mark Maintenance Co. who violate our rights and
slash our wages," read a flier for the activity.
"We demand justice for janitors in the richest financial
district in the world," one speaker told the cheering crowd.
"We're here to show Wall Street and Golden Mark that...there's
not going to be any peace until we have justice for
janitors."
In a spectacular show of multinational unity, throngs of
purple-clad unionists and their supporters marched through the
streets chanting to the pulsating beat of a Samba band.
Carrying placards, blowing whistles and waving signs, they
stretched behind a huge banner that declared, "Together we are
Strong."
The protest came only three days after Local 32B-32J won an
agreement with Citibank following a longstanding dispute over
the bank's use of the Golden Mark cleaning company. Several
lively demonstrations had been organized against Citibank and
Golden Mark, which had replaced 32B-32J workers in a deal that
paid the new workers about half the salary.
"The Citibank decision is one of the big gest victories for
Local 32B-32J since the parent union placed it into trusteeship
last February, after the local's former leader, Gus Bevona, was
pressured to retire," admitted the June 12 New York Times.
Street mobilizations represent a tactical shift in dealing
with unscrupulous companies like Citibank and Golden Mark--and
in the end it paid off. Because of the union's new activism,
Citibank was in fact forced to back down, agreeing to use only
cleaning contractors affiliated with Local 32B-32J.
Justice for Janitors Day began after picketing workers were
attacked and beaten by Los Angeles police on June 15, 1990.
They had gathered to demonstrate against the cleaning
contractor ISS. But the cop assault backfired and caused such
public outrage that ISS was forced to recognize the workers as
a bargaining unit in a big victory for the local.
"To remember that victory, SEIU janitors and supporters in
cities all across the U.S. and in countries around the world
demonstrate on June 15," explained a Service Employees
newsletter. And each year, the workers choose greedy
contractors to receive the Top Trash Award for exploiting
them.
In New York, despite the Citibank settlement, the recipient
was Golden Mark.
"Ain't no stopping us now," sang the crowd.
Since Thomas Balanoff was appointed trustee of 32B-32J by
the national union, picket lines, rallies and leaflet
distributions have supported janitorial workers--from the
Manhattan Mall, where management slashed workers' wages and
health and pension benefits, to showing solidarity with Port
Authority workers on strike. The June 15 protest was the latest
mobilization aimed at reversing a steep drop in enrollment at
Local 32B-32J.
The local also joined the giant May 12 rally that put racist
big-business Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on notice that people are
ready to fight for their rights. Members and staff of Local
32B-32J were among the 50,000 workers from federal, state and
city unions who turned out in a massive show of solidarity.
Unionists demanded an end to the mayor's attack on labor.
They also called for an end to downsizing and cutbacks in the
face of an unprecedented budget surplus.
And that is precisely why this year's Justice for Janitors
march and rally targeted Wall Street--to demand that the wealth
created by the working class, in the form of the budget
surplus, be returned to them.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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