Janitors’ Strike

Re “Striking Janitors March From Downtown to Westside,” April 8: In the 1980s hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens arrived in the U.S., many of them taking janitorial jobs, at lower wages, away from American citizens. Now we have those janitors, many of them illegal aliens, demonstrating over the low wages they have caused, while the companies for which they work complain about the costs of a pay increase.

There is an obvious solution to this matter. Aggressive action by the INS to deport illegal aliens in the workplace so jobs can be given to American citizens, coupled with aggressive investigation of the companies that have hired these illegals and passed on fraudulent employment documents. It is ludicrous for these companies to maintain they were not aware of their employees’ true immigration status--why else are these companies able to get such cheap labor?

STEPHEN KIRBY

Chino

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The high-rises, offices and bathrooms of Los Angeles will no longer look clean and presentable for the daily corporations that wheel and deal million-dollar contracts on the same desks that hard-working immigrants clean. So why can’t those corporations pay a measly dollar incentive to janitors who have shown loyalty to their companies?

I think we will find out why, when we truly see if this city we live in is willing to share the wealth and prosperity and acknowledge that we have a large immigrant (Mexican and Central American) population contributing to our economy.

ADAM CASAS

San Dimas

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So, the striking janitors want more money. A dollar-per-year raise for three years. They should stop striking, take out a student loan and go to school to get educated; then they can get a job that pays more. Anyone can do cleaning, and it does not take an educated person to be a janitor. Salaries are based on how much education the employee has.

DENNIS PIERCE

Los Angeles

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When I had a young family to support, I taught high school during the daytime and worked as a janitor at night. When you stretch, stoop, lift, sweep, mop and vacuum for hours on end, you feel it when you’re finally done. It’s hard, monotonous work. Janitors are underpaid and unappreciated. They deserve more appreciation, and that means better pay.

JIM PRICE

Santa Monica