Janitors’ Saga: From Streets to Screen

Icons of the new labor movement, red-shirted janitors were back by the busloads Thursday afternoon in Century City. But this was no protest.

They came instead for the North American premiere of a feature film by noted British director Ken Loach--a movie of romance and intrigue that stars none other than the latest darlings of popular culture.

Who would have dreamed that 10 years after Los Angeles police officers brutally beat back dozens of protesting janitors, many of the same workers would sit in a nearby movie theater, snacking on popcorn and watching themselves sympathetically portrayed on the big screen?

For that matter, who would have thought that the story of immigrant janitors fighting to join a union would bring a roomful of industry insiders to their feet at the recent Cannes Film Festival?

And yet Loach’s film, “Bread and Roses,” to be distributed to U.S. movie houses next winter, did just that. It remains to be seen how the movie, with its overt pro-union message, will play to mainstream audiences, but its timing couldn’t be better. Because suddenly, it’s cool to be a Los Angeles union janitor.

Their successful three-week strike in April drew national media coverage, the attention of unions from as far away as New Zealand, and visits by a series of heavyweight politicians, from Vice President Al Gore to Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Union officials said the Los Angeles strike set the pace for a wave of favorable contract settlements in Cleveland, New York, Chicago, San Jose and San Diego. And they’re counting on the momentum to help organize janitors in Orange County and other markets where the union has little presence.

National labor figures now routinely refer to the Los Angeles janitors strike as a turning point for modern labor, which is seeking to appeal to low-wage immigrant workers in the service sector.

On a cultural level, the strike had an impact as well--eventually becoming so popular that knockoffs of the famous red strike shirts were sold in the downtown fashion district. Several janitors said they sold the shirts off their backs on the street.

“The most important thing out of all this is that it raised expectations, not just for our members but for all low-wage workers, that things can be better,” said Stephen Lerner, who directs the national Justice for Janitors campaign for the Service Employees International Union. “The question for us now is: How can the janitors use their newfound strength and popularity and support to build on that success?”

A film by a beloved European director isn’t a bad place to start. Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty, a frequent collaborator, were on hand Thursday to greet hundreds of janitors as they filed into the Century City movie house.

Loach told critics that this was the audience he cared most about, and he made sure the janitors got the first peek at the film, in which many played small roles.

“All the good things in it are because of your involvement,” he said before the film rolled. “All the bad things, you can blame on me.”

It was a boisterous crowd, whooping and cheering from the start as the leading character frantically dashed across the U.S.-Mexico border and into a waiting smugglers’ van. They booed the one-dimensional bad guys--bureaucratic security guards and evil supervisors for the cleaning contractors--and cheered every time one of their own, such as real-life organizers Rocio Saenz and Jono Shaffer, appeared on the screen.

Some strained to see themselves as extras in crowd shots; others moaned as a video clip of the actual 1990 Century City march flashed on the screen. “If you looked carefully, you could see me rolling on the ground,” Lerner quipped. “Hard to believe we’re all here 10 years later.”

There was nothing subtle about the movie’s message: Workers can improve their lives if they join a union. Black-and-white as they are, the characters might strain credibility in a general audience. But this crowd said every moment rang true.

“That supervisor, he was just like the one I had when we organized,” said Oswaldo Hernandez, a janitor in Long Beach. “The good thing about that movie is it showed how badly they treat the workers.”

“And how hard the work is,” added Silfa Honorato, a co-worker. “Now everyone will see what life is like for us. That’s what I liked about it. Because they took our lives into account and showed that we are human beings too.”