On Oct. 23, 5,300 Houston janitors went on strike against five cleaning companies—ABM, OneSource, GCA, Sanitors and Prichard. These low-paid, mostly Latino workers, who clean 60 percent of the commercial buildings in Houston, turned in their brooms and mops for picket signs and chant sheets.
Almost one month into the strike, the janitors are continuing to fight in the streets and on picket lines, demanding better
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The average monthly salary of a Houston janitor is $424. According to research by the Service Employees International Union—the union representing the janitors—a livable wage in Houston is $2,691. That amount, although still low, is the absolute minimum wage required for a family of two parents and two children to be able to pay for housing, food, child care, transportation and other necessities. The figure does not include the cost of medical care, which would push the livable wage well over $3,000.
On Nov. 10, janitors mounted a militant protest against Transwestern, a major commercial property owner in Houston.
As a large group of chanting janitors marched several blocks away, a group of 14 quietly went inside Transwestern’s office building and sat down in the company’s conference room. They were then asked to leave because they didn’t have an appointment. Seven of the protesters were arrested after refusing to leave the conference room.
The janitors are not striking Transwestern, but part of the union’s strategy is to target big property owners, managers and tenants to put pressure on the cleaning companies that employ the janitors.
Although big corporate owners and tenants do not directly employ the janitors, the workers clean their facilities. They are silent partners with the janitorial services companies and have the ability to weigh in on this struggle.
One of the principal corporate tenants in Houston is the oil giant Chevron-Texaco. According to the union’s website, www.houstonjanitors.org, Chevron is the largest tenant in downtown Houston with over 2.9 million square feet of office space. It recently posted quarterly profits of $5 billion. The union has called for nationwide protests against Chevron-Texaco to support the striking janitors.
This is the strikers fourth week on the picket lines. They are still receiving strike benefits from the union and are still receiving basic food items that have been packed and distributed by community volunteers.
As the struggle moves forward, the workers are pulling together and are continuing to fight the capitalist bosses. It is an important step toward pushing back the anti-labor offensive mounted by the ruling class in the South and all over the United States.
Click here to read more from the PSL about the Houston janitors’ strike.
