On Feb. 28, over 200 service workers at the University of Miami went on strike to win a union contract and a living wage. They walked out against the UNICCO Service Company, a nationwide facilities maintenance company. UM contracts with UNICCO for its maintenance services.
 Striking workers at the University of Miami protest in solidarity with students who seized the admissions office. Photo: Patrick Farrel/AP Photo |
The mostly Caribbean and Latin American immigrant workers are organizing with Service Employees Local 11. UM is the largest employer in Miami-Dade County and one of Florida’s wealthiest universities.
The struggle to win a union contract is central to the workers’ demands. They are up against an institution that is not shy about preferring profits over workers’ needs. “We allow [UNICCO] to pay whatever they want to pay as long as they can recruit and retain workers, and still make a buck at the end of the day,” said David Lieberman, UM’s vice president for business and finance.
The strike has galvanized public support for the service workers. Determined struggle and community support has led to several important partial victories.
UNICCO is notorious for its anti-worker and anti-union policies. There are over 60 National Labor Relations Board unfair labor practices charges against UNICCO across the United States, 13 related to the UM campus.
SEIU filed papers against UNICCO for violating the May 1999 Living Wage Ordinance. The county’s median income is $6,000 below the national average. Nearly one of every five people in Miami-Dade County lives below the poverty line.
The ordinance sets the minimum wage for county workers at $9.81 per hour with qualifying health benefits, or $11.23 per hour without health benefits. If it is found to be in violation of the ordinance, UNICCO could be forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars of back pay to janitors.
Under pressure from the strike, UM president Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, conceded a wage increase and employee-paid health benefits on March 19. “Universities should always lead the way, and providing fair wages and health insurance is a necessity,” according to Shalala.
But at the same time, the university is waging a campaign to crush the union organizing. And the promised wages are still below the Miami-Dade County wage standard.
“UNICCO is not coming to the table to negotiate,” said Odalis Rodríguez, a striking worker.
 Service workers, who are primarily immigrants, are fighting for a union at the University of Miami. Photo: John Peter Daly |
The workers themselves are on the picket lines to change the status quo at the university. The UM administration has claimed neutrality, yet they have given UNICCO the go-ahead to hold mandatory anti-union meetings on campus. Some workers already have been suspended for pro-union activity.
“We are very positive that we will get the result we want,” said Reinaldo Hernández, a striking worker with a very determined look. “We are very united and we have support from students and teachers and many others from the community.”
Community support strong
Students, clergy and community leaders occupied UM’s administration building on March 28 for 13 hours to press the demand for collective bargaining. The takeover came just after Shalala offered a wage increase as a tactic to break the union drive.
The same day, more than 300 supporters protested on U.S. Route 1, a major highway, in a civil disobedience action to draw attention to the worker’s demands. Several clergy and community leaders were arrested.
After the takeover of the administration building, Shalala changed her tune. She gave UNICCO a 48-hour deadline to come to the table with SEIU, the janitors, faculty and community groups to negotiate to recognize the union. UNICCO did not respond to this deadline.
Shalala’s statement also included a letter directed to UNICCO saying that intimidation and unjustified dismissal of workers on campus will not be tolerated.
A number of organizations have joined the struggle to show support for the workers. The Faculty Senate and Student Government voted for a living wage in 2001 for all university workers. They have been active advocates on campus.
Haitian community organizations supporting the fight for unionization in Haiti met with Shalala on March 15 to denounce her false neutrality and to support the workers’ demands.
The anti-war movement in South Florida has also shown solidarity with the service workers’ campaign. Activists with the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) included the UNICCO worker’s demands on a flyer to educate people about their struggle and draw connections to the war as part of their efforts to end the U.S. war in the Middle East. Other south Florida anti-war activists began food collections for the striking workers.
A hunger strike in support of the workers’ demands began on April 4 in a tent city in front of the university where the workers picket. “We are going on a hunger strike until there is a union,” Odalis Rodríguez explained. Seven students and eight workers began the hunger strike.
Militancy spreads
Emboldened by the UM janitors’ strike against UNICCO, the workers at Nova University in Broward County also are demanding to be heard. They held a militant march on April 3 and plan to continue organizing there.
The mostly immigrant workers at UM felt strengthened when hundreds of thousands of immigrants mobilized around the United States to demand full rights. “We are in solidarity with them. We are together with them,” said Clara Vargas, a worker in the hunger strike. “We are fighting for all Miami, for all workers and immigrant workers.”
“It’s a new movement that Miami hasn’t seen,” explains Richard Ocampo, an SEIU Local 11 organizer. “This strike is the launching of a new movement for workers’ rights here,” he continued.
The strike has garnered significant support from the students and community and is key in the overall mobilization of immigrant workers now taking place across the United States.
From Miami to Los Angeles, immigrant workers are fighting for their rights. Solidarity at this crucial juncture is imperative.
To find out how you can support the janitors struggle, visit http://seiu11.org
Articles may be reprinted with credit to Socialism and Liberation magazine.
