Striking Janitors March From Downtown to Westside

Janitors escalated their strike actions Friday with a boisterous all-day march along Wilshire Boulevard, from the crowded immigrant neighborhoods west of downtown Los Angeles to the luxury office towers of Century City.

The 10-mile march, which marked the end of the strike’s first week, drew more than 2,500 red-shirted, chanting strikers, a dozen state and local political leaders, and a mop-toting Jesse Jackson. It ended with an evening rally at the Century Plaza office towers.

Along the route, hundreds of office tenants, firefighters and shoppers lined the sidewalk, many applauding. Several businesses in Century City, including 20th Century Fox Studios, closed early after receiving an advisory from the local Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile, the nation’s largest janitorial contractor, American Building Maintenance, was denied its request for a temporary restraining order against picketing strikers.

The contractor’s attorneys said the picketers have blocked access to managers and replacement workers at some buildings. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled the order was not necessary because police were responding adequately.

Also Friday, Operating Engineers Local 501, which represents workers who maintain air conditioners, heaters and other equipment, officially backed the strike so that workers could refuse to cross the line. They join the Teamsters and Building Trades Council.

Teamsters Local 396 business agent Danny Bruno said drivers for United Parcel Service, trash collection agencies and soda delivery firms have turned away from picketed buildings, refusing to stop.

The seven leading janitorial contractors have worked together to supply replacement workers to office buildings affected by the strike. “As far as getting the buildings cleaned, we’re not having any problems,” said Dick Davis, chief negotiator for the contractors.

Davis was in negotiations with the janitors union in San Diego, whose contract expired last week. Janitors in San Diego are considering a strike next week.

The Service Employees International Union represents about 8,500 janitors in Los Angeles County, cleaning about 70% of the commercial office space.

The janitors, who earn $6.80 to $7.90 per hour with health benefits, are demanding a $1-per-hour raise each year for the next three years. Contractors entered negotiations with a wage freeze, but increased their offer to raises ranging from 80 cents to $1.30 over the three years.

Janitors rejected that offer Monday and voted to strike. Since then, there have been no formal negotiations. Davis said the contractors have no plans to negotiate until the janitors “come to their senses” and reduce their demands.

Several political leaders, including incoming Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), said they have been talking with building owners and managers who contract for the cleaning services in an attempt to move the negotiations.

At the first of three rally points, the Radisson Wilshire Plaza in Koreatown, union leaders met with a dozen political leaders, including Hertzberg and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), who have benefited from union support.

“We asked them to make calls to building managers, and they all agreed to do that,” said Fabian Nunez, political director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. “This meeting was about setting a new standard for the kinds of political representation we want.”

For nearly half the march, Jesse Jackson led the blocks-long column of strikers, flanked by City Atty. James K. Hahn, City Controller Rick Tuttle and United Teachers-Los Angeles President Day Higuchi.

With traffic cleared from westbound lanes, union officials and politicians rallied the strikers from the bed of a truck. Jackson told the workers that if the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez were alive, they would surely have joined their march. The crowd cheered as Jackson’s remarks were translated into Spanish.

The march was orderly and peaceful, and broke up before 6 p.m. No arrests were reported, and traffic disruptions appeared minimal. No strike activities were planned for this weekend.

Mike Garcia, president of the Los Angeles janitors local, said he was “overwhelmed” by the support strikers have received. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think the campaign would take off like this,” he said. “I think we were in the right time and the right place. People were looking for an underdog to root for.”