SEIU: Day 2: Strike Spreads in Silicon Valley, Bay Area
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2008
2:08 PM
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CONTACT: SEIU
Gina Bowers
(213) 926-6993
gina.bowers@seiu.org |
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Day 2: Strike Spreads in Silicon Valley, Bay Area
Striking Janitors Call on Intel to Support Workers’ Efforts to Win Good Jobs, Health Care for All
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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - May 21 - Striking janitors are demonstrating outside the Intel shareholder’s meeting this morning in Mountain View as concerned investors inside question the company’s policies on issues that affect working families.
“Nobody likes to patronize or work for a company that allows its workers to be exploited,” said Jack Ucciferri, of Harrington Investments, Inc. located in Napa, CA. “Responsible investors are troubled by evidence that certain companies are unable to recognize and fairly reward the value provided by the most vulnerable workers, because it reveals a poor understanding of where value lies within a corporation. It is in our company's interest to promptly address this in a way that does not compromise our public image or employee morale.”
Intel’s cleaning contractor SBM has unleashed a campaign to intimidate and frighten workers who want a better life, according to charges the janitors’ union filed today with the federal labor board.
On the second day of the janitors’ strike, more than 50 workers walked off the job at Applied Materials to join more than 400 janitors already on strike against cleaning companies contracted by Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and other facilities throughout the Silicon Valley. Janitors launched a landmark strike in Silicon Valley on May 20 in protest of their treatment on the job.
As the strike continues, it will expand throughout the Silicon Valley and into the East Bay. Buildings throughout the Broadway corridor in downtown Oakland are expected to walk off the job tonight.
Despite servicing some of the most profitable industries and office properties in the state, Silicon Valley/Bay Area janitors earn less than half of what it takes to survive in California, and far less than janitors doing the same work earn San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. In addition, they face long waits, as long as 2 ½ years to receive health care.
Contract talks for more than 6,000 janitors collapsed last Thursday with the Bay Area’s largest cleaning companies refusing after months of negotiations to propose even modest pay and benefit improvements to janitors currently making only $347 a week—just $23,000 annually. In addition, the cleaning companies are facing an investigation by the federal labor board over charges they illegally attempted to silence and intimidated janitors who have been speaking out for justice.
For more info on SEIU Local 1877 Justice for Janitors visit: www.seiu-usww.org.
The 1.9 million member Service Employees International Union is united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society. SEIU members are winning better wages, health care, and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.
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