Houston

Houston, Texas is the country's fourth largest city where most of the work is done by minorities, and most of the wealth is controlled by an establishment of large oil companies and radical right-wing politicians. Only four percent of Texas workers are in unions and wages are below the national average. When Houston janitors tried to form a union in the 1980s, Texas's fiercely anti-union establishment crushed them. By 2006, janitors, most of them Latinas, were making only $5.25.

But on October 23rd, janitors in 58 buildings walked off the job to march, beat drums, and bang homemade maracas in front of their buildings. Thousands of SEIU members poured in from across the country to march in solidarity. Demonstrators faced outrageous police brutality, including a charge of police officers mounted on horses.

The media coverage put pressure on building owners and tenants across the country and the world. Pension funds and investors told them to come to the table and negotiate with the workers. After one month of demonstrations, the Houston establishment decided it needed a deal.

The janitors won their first citywide contract, which included yearly wage increases, more fulltime jobs, health insurance, and a health clinic.

Colorado

SEIU's investment in the South and Southwest is helping to change the environment for workers. In states throughout the South and Southwest, it is illegal for public workers to form a union and have a voice on the job. In states like Virginia and North Carolina, they can be fired if someone doesn't like the color of their shoes--or if they offer suggestions for how to better deliver services.

SEIU in Colorado has been part of building a progressive infrastructure that serves as a model for other states. Over the last two decades, Coloradoans have elected pro-worker candidates and proven that unions are a positive force for working families across the country.

Teachers, firefighters, snowplow drivers, and other public employees in Colorado decided they needed a voice to do their jobs effectively. Working with SEIU leader Mitch Ackerman, now an SEIU Executive Vice President, they presented newly elected Governor Bill Ritter with 1,000 new ideas on how to improve state government in 2006. Ritter soon issued an executive order, allowing the state's 32,000 employees to vote to organize a partnership with the state.

Miami

One of the most moving struggles of workers in the South and Southwest was the University of Miami janitor strike of 2006.

Janitors at the UM like Zoila Garcia were outraged when they discovered that UM president Donna Shalala made $516,000 a year and lived in a 9,000 square foot mansion. As a janitor at the university, Garcia was earning only $6.70 per hour and faced bankruptcy. And when doctors discovered her cancer, she had no health insurance.

Zoila demanded that president Shalala let them form a union so they could bargain for a living wage, health insurance, and a voice on the job. Shalala hid behind a smokescreen and said it was the cleaning contractor's decision. The janitors knew better and voted to authorize a strike on March 26, 2006.

They didn't march alone: students and SEIU leaders quickly joined. The janitors attracted deep support from Miami religious leaders, including the UM chaplain and the Miami Bishop. Janitors, students and SEIU leaders like Eliseo Media upped their pressure on the university administration by going on a hunger strike for weeks. Some wound up in the hospital.

Shalala yielded on May 1. The janitors had won the right to organize via majority signup. They quickly chose to form a union and bargained for their first contract. Housekeepers won a minimum wage of $8.55 per hour as well as an affordable healthcare plan. Most important of all, they now had a voice on the job.