Whatever Became Of Unions?
It is no accident that the minimum wage hasn't risen for entirely too long. The primary force for pro-labor legislation, unions, has been in decline for the past twenty years. As manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas, our economy has turned into a service economy, and established unions haven't seen fit to to do anything about either situation. That's one of the reasons why the AFL-CIO suffered such a disasterous split this past year. Fortunately, the union movement is now showing signs of resurgence, and it is no accident that the resurgance is found in the service sector. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU)is one of the few unions regularly in the news as it forces new contracts for previously non-organized sectors.
The latest success for the SEIU comes out of Houston. From the LA Times:
In a major step for labor in this right-to-work city, striking janitors reached an agreement with five major cleaning companies Monday on a contract that guarantees the workers higher wages, more work hours and medical benefits.
About 1,700 janitors walked off the job Oct. 23 after talks broke down, and have staged high-profile demonstrations in a city unaccustomed to noisy displays of civil disobedience.
Strikers dragged garbage cans and trash bags into a busy intersection, then handcuffed themselves to each other and the cans. In another action, they pushed trash bins, mop buckets and brooms through downtown Houston during rush hour.
The janitors make an average of $5.15 an hour, half the wage of their counterparts in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
The contract is a first for the 5,300 Houston janitors who affiliated with the Service Employees International Union last year. Under the agreement, pay for SEIU janitors will increase to $6.25 an hour on Jan. 1. That will go up to $7.25 an hour in 2008, and $7.75 in 2009.
The settlement also guarantees more work hours for janitors who have largely been limited to four hours a night. The workers will be covered by health insurance starting Jan. 1, 2009, and will get vacation time and six paid holidays a year. [Emphasis added]
Let there be no mistake, the increase in wages and benefits is meager by most standards, but the fact is that is a gigantic leap for workers in this sector, who to a large extent are immigrants working a second or third job for their families. They are very similar to the workers the SEIU successfully represented in Los Angeles recently: hotel workers, janitors, cemetary workers, and now security service workers.
I think this bodes well for labor in this country. Instead of spending money on lobbyists and entertaining politicians, the SEIU is concentrating on organizing and negotiating new contracts. I think progressives, and those politicians wrapping themselves in a liberal mantle, would do well to pay attention to this union and those like it that are breathing new life into labor rights.
The latest success for the SEIU comes out of Houston. From the LA Times:
In a major step for labor in this right-to-work city, striking janitors reached an agreement with five major cleaning companies Monday on a contract that guarantees the workers higher wages, more work hours and medical benefits.
About 1,700 janitors walked off the job Oct. 23 after talks broke down, and have staged high-profile demonstrations in a city unaccustomed to noisy displays of civil disobedience.
Strikers dragged garbage cans and trash bags into a busy intersection, then handcuffed themselves to each other and the cans. In another action, they pushed trash bins, mop buckets and brooms through downtown Houston during rush hour.
The janitors make an average of $5.15 an hour, half the wage of their counterparts in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
The contract is a first for the 5,300 Houston janitors who affiliated with the Service Employees International Union last year. Under the agreement, pay for SEIU janitors will increase to $6.25 an hour on Jan. 1. That will go up to $7.25 an hour in 2008, and $7.75 in 2009.
The settlement also guarantees more work hours for janitors who have largely been limited to four hours a night. The workers will be covered by health insurance starting Jan. 1, 2009, and will get vacation time and six paid holidays a year. [Emphasis added]
Let there be no mistake, the increase in wages and benefits is meager by most standards, but the fact is that is a gigantic leap for workers in this sector, who to a large extent are immigrants working a second or third job for their families. They are very similar to the workers the SEIU successfully represented in Los Angeles recently: hotel workers, janitors, cemetary workers, and now security service workers.
I think this bodes well for labor in this country. Instead of spending money on lobbyists and entertaining politicians, the SEIU is concentrating on organizing and negotiating new contracts. I think progressives, and those politicians wrapping themselves in a liberal mantle, would do well to pay attention to this union and those like it that are breathing new life into labor rights.
posted by Diane at 1:39 PM
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