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Union targets multiple fronts with political savvy

By Sarah Anne Wright
Seattle Times business reporter

	JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES An Allied Business Services janitorial crew starts their shift at an Eastgate office building. SEIU Local 6 is trying to organize the workers through its Justice for Janitors campaign.
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But tell that to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which runs the Justice for Janitors campaigns in Seattle and nationally.

In July, the union helped 2,500 local janitors keep employer-paid medical benefits.

"Despite the downturn in the building sector, a lot of vacancies and failed businesses, we were still able to keep the 100 percent employer-paid medical and dental coverage for our janitors and their families," said Debbie Foley, secretary-treasurer for SEIU Local 6.

The Justice for Janitors campaign has become one of the most active labor movements today, labor experts say, because of its success in linking the plight of those doing some of the country's dirtiest work with a wider social malaise. Churches and social organizations have backed the union in its plight.

Members of the Washington Association of Churches — including St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral and Congregation Beth Shalom, both in Seattle — have signed on to the cause, drafting a letter that equates fair wages for janitors with upstanding, moral behavior. In the past year, more than two dozen congregations have participated in Justice for Janitors events, and still more have vowed to help spread the word about what they see as bad working conditions for janitors.

"We call it a 'Walk with Workers' movement," said Secki Fascione, Pacific Northwest coordinator with Justice for Janitors.

On Good Friday last year, workers and members of St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue participated in a Stations of the Cross procession.

"We literally had hundreds of people in the streets of Bellevue joined in solidarity," Fascione said.

Unions gain ground Justice for Janitors: www.justiceforjanitors.org Service Employees International Union: seiu6.localsonline.org

The Rev. Tom Quigley, acting executive minister for the Washington Association of Churches, said that he felt churches had a role in improving conditions for janitorial workers, the majority of whom are immigrants.

"A lot of these people are newcomers to our country," Quigley said. "They need our support. There is no question in my mind that the faith community — if it true to its principles — is going to be concerned about justice for the most vulnerable in our society."

Labor experts also say Justice for Janitors has taken a page from the corporate playbook — attacking foes simultaneously through organized media blitzes, litigation and pressure on a company's customers and suppliers.

It has been a tremendous success.

Nationwide membership in the SEIU's building-services division, which represents janitors, has jumped 40 percent since a strike by Pittsburgh janitors in 1985, said Stephen Lerner, one of the architects of the movement and director of the division. SEIU has about 2,700 members in the Seattle area.

At the outset of the 1985 strike, the union was hemorrhaging membership, Lerner said.

"There was an overbuilding crisis and a lot of cost-cutting," Lerner said. "Building owners became huge corporations, and cleaning companies became corporations. We almost went into extinction."

Justice for Janitors uses tactics reminiscent of 1930s class-oriented struggles in the steel and auto industries, said Marick Masters, a professor with the Katz Business School at the University of Pittsburgh.

"This campaign is the leading edge of these provocative tactics, just like a corporate campaign," Masters said. "There are multiple fronts — suppliers, customers, petitioning of government agencies, litigation and mobilization on the civil front. But this isn't arranged overnight. They know how to pull all the strings, and they are politically savvy."

The emphasis has been on health care for workers, and the campaign has been building momentum, even as other labor segments get cutbacks in benefits.

In the mid-1980s, 23 of 25 cities in which a majority of janitors belonged to unions took concessions and accepted collective bargaining, Lerner said. In 2003, 28 cities had majority union representation and took no concessions, Lerner said.

Local Justice for Janitors officials said they want health-care benefits for all King County janitors.

The 200 workers at Bellevue-based Allied Building Services went on strike periodically last year, most recently for three days in December, in their attempt to organize for union representation and health-care benefits. Their efforts were helped again by churches and others in the community and by calls to Allied's clients.

The multilateral pressure made Allied more willing to listen, Fascione said.

"That really helped bring a company like Allied to the table with us," Fascione said.

The union's sway was felt most keenly in Allied's business dealings, said Joe Williams, Houston-based general counsel for Allied.

"(Justice for Janitors) sent letters directly to our customers disparaging us and the way we conduct business," Williams said.

When workers belong to a union, labor costs increase 20 to 30 percent, Williams said.

"It's purely economic whether or not we or our customers can afford to extend the range of benefits that the union is calling for," he said.

Allied and Justice for Janitors are negotiating.

"Our customers would like to see the hostilities cease," Williams said.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Sarah Anne Wright: 206-464-2752 or swright@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company