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In October 2012, in Houston, USA, Service Employees International Union, SEIU, rallied support to achieve a major breakthrough for janitors following a one month strike and secured a substantial four year settlement. It included wins for workers around hours, wages, healthcare and job security. The USA has the largest share of low-paid jobs in the industrial world, amounting almost one in four full-time workers, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)



By Sadia Kaenzig, from Montevideo



Here is the take of Rocio Saenz*, President of SEIU Local 615, representing some 14,000 janitors, who has attended the UNI Americas 3^rd regional conference that took place in Montevideo 5 – 7 December 2012



SK - How did what happen in Houston change the landscape of the workers’ fight in the US?

RS – It proves one thing, that low wage work is rare where unionization rate is high. If we unite, we can overcome employers’ lack of consideration for their workers. The Huston case is a good example as it reveals that a State where huge inequalities are widespread should indeed do more for the welfare of their workers. It was important to put a face to such fight, how it looks like working in precarious conditions. This is just one little step ahead but an important one because we are getting active and we are joining a broader movement that secure working conditions for every one. We need to work together as a responsible community to make this possible.



SK- Why is it so important for you to take part in the UNI Americas Conference?

RS - The Houston janitors' fight for better working conditions worked. When we come together, we unite, everything is possible. Today, the employers and companies are global, so we need to join together globally. We want better life and better future for all workers. We can make a change. We want to make a change. We want to achieve that every worker is respected, valued, make a decent living. We have the numbers, the strength and we have the power to break through. We don't only have the passion and conviction but we have the plan and the strategy. We will get there.



SK – Tell me more about the “Justice for Janitors” campaign.

RS -The protest started when we managed to unite tens of thousands of mostly Latino janitors from LA to Houston, in the 1990’s and 2000. What was special about this fight is that most of these workers represented thousands of illegal immigrants, who because of their legal status, were until then impossible to organise. But because we believed in the fight that employers should take on responsibility for the welfare of their workers, we resorted to many breakthrough strategies in order to achieve significant gains such as the one we achieved recently in Houston. We kept on putting pressure not only on building maintenance contractors but also on the building owners who hired them. Slowly but surely we will get more justice for janitors and we hope that this is a wake-up call for all workers in America and beyond that if we unite, we can make a difference.



*Rocio Saenz played a union organiser in the Ken Loach film “Bread and Roses” released in 2000. Loach, a staunch socialist, recently turned down an award from theTurin Film Festival in solidarity with outsourced festival workers rights.