150 Janitors and Supporters Protest Against Maintenance Firms

Beating drums, thumping tambourines and rattling soda cans, about 150 janitors and their supporters demonstrated Wednesday outside three downtown Los Angeles buildings, protesting what they described as heavy workloads and layoffs.

The janitors, who belong to the Service Employees International Union, marched for about an hour, chanting, “Unete a la lucha” (Spanish for “Join the struggle”).

Protesters stopped at two buildings serviced by Skyline Building Maintenance and at Citicorp Plaza, serviced by International Service Systems. The protests are the latest in a national “justice for janitors” drive, a union spokeswoman said.

Janitors employed by Skyline complained about unpaid overtime and intimidation by management.

“I’m insulted. They give us excessive workloads and no lunch breaks,” said Anabelle Cartagena, 23, a janitor who works at a Skyline-serviced building. “And they threatened to fire us because we wanted a union.”

Skyline is one of the largest nonunion maintenance companies in Los Angeles, union officials said.

“These charges are without merit,” said Skyline President Douglas Hardin. “The employees don’t want to be unionized.”

International Service Systems officials declined to comment.

Janitors working for that company protested unexpected job cuts at Citicorp Plaza in December. As a result, workers are struggling with extra duties, union members said.

“The ones who stayed have an increased workload,” said Benjamin Cruz, 40, a food court janitor fired in December. “And the ones who left, their families are affected. They have no health insurance or wages.”