http://www.truth-out.org/los-angeles-janitors-fight-their-jobs/1311960769
Los Angeles Janitors Fight for Their Jobs
Sunday 31 July 2011
by:
David Bacon, Truthout | Photo Essay
(Photos: David Bacon)
Over 1,400 Los Angeles janitors, members of United Service Workers West
SEIU, protested the firing of immigrant workers by Able Building
Maintenance. The company has fired workers whose immigration status the
company questions, even though the workers have been cleaning the
buildings where they work for many years. In protest, workers marched
through downtown Los Angeles at lunch hour, stopping in front of
buildings where Able has the cleaning contract, and finally sat down in
an intersection, stopping traffic.Firings because of immigration status
do irreparable harm to workers and to their communities.
At Able Building Maintenance and most other companies in this wave of
firings, workers have steady, well-paying union jobs and support many
other people in their families. Many have worked in their jobs for over a
decade and some for even longer. Marchers asked that Able Maintenance
respect their time on the job.
The janitors are not working for the low wages that are common in the
worst workplaces. Union janitors make more than minimum wage and have
medical and other benefits. That's what people are trying to defend -
jobs capable of supporting families. That is the goal of most unions and
most working people. Immigrants are no different.
Undocumented workers did not take jobs from anyone. The jobs in these
buildings belong to the workers who do them. An immigration check
leading to their firing does not create a single job. Instead, it forces
people into an underground economy where illegal wages and conditions
are prevalent. It does not improve wages and conditions in the
workplace. At Able, there already is a union contract in place that
guarantees health care and wages that can support families.
These immigrant workers didn't cause the unemployment that plagues
millions of families. They didn't close a single plant. Big corporations
did. They didn't cause the economic recession or foreclose on anyone's
home. Big banks did. They didn't throw money at the banks while failing
to establish jobs programs for unemployed workers. The misplaced
priorities of successive administrations are responsible for that. The
money they've spent on two wars and the defense industry alone could
have provided employment to everyone.
If undocumented workers are removed from their jobs, it spells economic
disaster for many people, far beyond the workers themselves. Wages fall
and the recession gets worse. Employers and workers pay taxes that
support local schools and services. The employers have suppliers whose
businesses are also harmed. Workers' paychecks inject hundreds of
thousands of dollars into local economies every month, which support
other businesses and families. All this is placed in jeopardy by mass
firings.
Firing and terrorizing people only weakens their ability to unite and
fight for something better, as well as any union's ability to adequately
represent people. Wages go down when unions and workers are weak. That
hurts everyone.
Under the Bush administration, armed agents took workers in handcuffs
from their workplaces. Immigration firings are less visible, but their
impact is just as brutal. If our communities stand for equal treatment
for all residents, we should treat these workers and their families with
the same respect and dignity that all of us deserve.
This article may not be republished without specific permission of
the author. This content is not covered by our Creative Commons license
and may not be reproduced by any other source.
54Email
David Bacon
David Bacon is a
writer and photographer. His new book, "Illegal People - How
Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants," was just
published by Beacon Press. His photographs and stories can be found at
http://dbacon.igc.org.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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