Janitors Draw Parallels Between Strike, Passover

Striking janitors observed a ritual Passover feast Wednesday in Encino to symbolize their struggle against economic injustice and oppressive working conditions, organizers said.

In the hours before the eight-day Passover holiday began at sundown, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs of Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills led janitors in the ritual meal and compared their strike to the Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt.

“The first work strike took place 5,000 years ago when the Hebrew people walked out of Egypt,” Jacobs said. “They left Egypt in the middle of the night just like you left in the middle of the night.”

Protesters ate a traditional Seder meal as they sat on blankets in front of TrizecHahn Office Properties’ headquarters on Ventura Boulevard. The firm owns office buildings citywide that striking janitors have refused to clean for three weeks.

The striking workers recited 10 “plagues” they say they suffer as janitors, including poverty-level wages, unsafe working conditions, immigrant-bashing, inadequate housing and insufficient health care.

“The Passover holiday in many ways is symbolic of the janitors’ struggle to liberate themselves from poverty and to seek economic justice,” said Blanca Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union, Local 1877.

While most of the striking janitors are Catholic, Gallegos said they welcome the support of the Jewish community.

“It is encouraging to the strikers when they receive community support,” Gallegos said. “It gives them hope and helps them to look forward to an eventual settlement of the dispute.”

Negotiations between janitors and contractors continued Wednesday as the strike ran into its 17th day, while frustration appeared to be building on all sides.

Several hundred strikers entered three high-rise buildings at Warner Center in Woodland Hills on Tuesday evening. One tenant said the protesters overturned ashtrays and trash cans, and threw food, mud and confetti in public areas. Three strikers were arrested after they lay down in a driveway to block access to replacement workers.

Union officials complained Wednesday that Los Angeles police officers have responded to marches and pickets with excessive force.

LAPD Lt. Horace Frank denied accusations that police have overreacted to the protests.

Striking janitors walked off their jobs when a coalition of 18 janitorial cleaning firms balked at a $1-per-hour raise each year for the next three years. Janitors generally earn $6.80 to $7.80 an hour.