
Issue No 75		27 October 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

International

US Cleaners on Hunger Strike

By Andrew Casey

A number of US cleaners have this week gone on a hunger strike to back a union campaign for higher wages.

The commercial high-rise office cleaners are refusing all food until their employers agree to a contract that provides living wages, affordable health insurance and full-time hours.

Negotiations that might have ended their fast hit a snag when contractors refused to make available more full-time work opportunities.

The Service Employees Industrial Union (SEIU) has run a national Justice for Janitors campaign which has had some significant wins across America this year.

But in Stamford, Connecticut - which is a mid-size city north of New York - the 300 unionised cleaners are now in the fourth week of a strike.

To back the campaign the SEIU took out a full page advert in the New York Times this week.

Also this week a number of their members were arrested during a sit-in, and now some members have gone on a hunger strike.

Soon after the strike started the SEIU cleaners handed out big green garbage bags to office workers in the places they were on strike. The cleaners wanted to highlight their demands for better pay and working conditions.

Handing out the garbage bags underlined their important role in the workplace and as the strike continues, the office workers would have to make their own arrangements to keep their workplaces tidy.

The SEIU is the sister union to the LHMU.

In the same US state of Connecticut the SEIU has just won pay rises, improved pension benefits, more paid vacation and the opportunity to move from part-time to full-time work for members in the city of Hartford.

With full-time positions, the US workers will now be eligible for health benefits.

"We needed full-time jobs in the suburbs, and because of the strength of our members, we were able to achieve it,'' Kurt Westby, the president of the local branch of the SEIU said.

The cleaners provide services in some of the most prominent office blocks in the Hartford area.

" I think it's a major step for bringing low-wage workers out of poverty wages,'' the local union leader said.

"Hundreds of workers are going to start to get health care. Was it everything we wanted? No. But we made tremendous strides.''

  Vist the Justice for Janitors campaign site

  View entire issue - print all of the articles!

  Issue 75 contents

Interview: Civilized Capital
The FNV's Harrie Lindelauff explains to Peter Lewis how a friendly government and moderate employers make for a different sort of workplace in Holland.

Politics: Where Too Much Politics Is Barely Enough
With daily newspapers providing polling and analysis, television, cable, radio and Internet providing 24 hour coverage over a year long campaign -- there's more than enough politics for even the most voracious American political junkie reports Michael Gadiel.

International: US Cleaners on Hunger Strike
A number of US cleaners have this week gone on a hunger strike to back a union campaign for higher wages.

Economics: The Pass The Risk Trick
Derivatives, often seen as the currency of casino capitalism, are the fastest growing, largest and potentially most volatile aspect of capitalist economies. Economist Dick Brian sees behind this image an even deeper danger.

Health: Depressing Workplaces
New technologies and the impact of globalisation have sparked more stress and bouts of depression for workers, while causing a growing burden for social security systems, a new ILO report says.

Unions: Costello's Con
The low paid are bearing the brunt of the GST with inflation at a 10 year high argues the ACTU's Greg Combet.

Satire: Bush campaign an in-joke, admit advisors
TEXAS, Thursday: Following Bush's disastrous performance in the first Presidential debate it has been revealed that his bid for president is actually the result of a in-joke about how stupid the American people are.

» ACTU Calls For Compo For Costello's Inflation Spike

» Despair At Our ABC

» Outlaw Banks Strike Again

» Church Leader Confesses: We're Not Always Good Employers

» Building Workers Win $150 A Week Pay Rise

» MUA Prosecutes Patrick

» WA Secrecy Laws Gag Union Members

» LHMU Seek $1 An Hour Rise

» Picket Protects Broadway Squats

» APHEDA Appeal For Palestinian Medical Relief

» World Bank, IMF To Consult Unions

» Festering Joy

» Heath Our Hero Wins Two Gold