Hunger Strikers at University of Miami

Did a tour of Miami on April 19, and we didn't see anything resembling a "strike" at the U of Miami. Maybe, they were all in the cafetaria.

Joining a union is a basic simple human right?

Yes, jp, and one that management could be expected to go to war over.

Be right back... I have to go tell my employer that I demand to join a union, too.

Your employer should have already provided one.

My employer said he would not let me join the union so, I too, am on a hunger strike. Does a liquid only diet include Guiness?

Miami, Boston Immigrant Janitors Fasting in Protest of Civil Rights Abuses by Major Boston-area Employer



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2005

CONTACT: Lynda Tran
Cell: 202-907-1172

Boston cleaning firm UNICCO again at center of national controversy over treatment of immigrant workers

BOSTON - One day after massive rallies by immigrant workers across the country, immigrant janitors from Miami and Boston are continuing the call for justice. The workers and their supporters are fasting all day Tuesday to protest civil rights abuses around the country by the Boston-based cleaning company, UNICCO Services. Many of the workers' supporters are "giving up their lunches" today and refusing to eat as a show of solidarity.

"We work hard, but they treat us like dogs," said Luz Espinoza, a janitor at the University of Miami. "We only want the chance to reach the American Dream, but when we talk about making changes, we are threatened. We need a union to protect ourselves and our families."

The Florida janitors, who clean the campuses of the University of Miami and NOVA Southeastern University, are uniting to win safer workplaces and better jobs by forming a union with SEIU. Their effort has won broad public support in a state where few workers, let alone low-paid immigrants, have the protections and higher wages of a union job.

UNICCO's response to the historic effort has been an unprecedented crackdown on immigrant workers' civil rights. Over the past 8 months UNICCO has threatened, fired, spied on, and coerced janitors who they suspect of supporting the union, frequently targeting leaders for reprisals.

"Once again we find ourselves forced to stand up in downtown Boston and condemn the unethical behavior of this outlaw company," said Reverend Hurmon Hamilton of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church. "UNICCO's policies are reckless, destructive, and inhumane. Employers should be rewarding the hard work of these janitors, not violating their civil rights. We call on UNICCO to end the civil rights abuses of workers everywhere."

Janitors in Boston who work for UNICCO are joining the struggle of the Miami janitors out of concern that the company's civil rights abuses could spread. UNICCO cleans International Place, Copley Mall, the Hynes and BCEC Convention Centers, and the Harvard campus, among other locations. In 2002, a similar crackdown by UNICCO in Boston led to a 3-week strike by SEIU janitors.

In Miami, more than a dozen UNICCO janitors and students are in the second week of a fast of their own, protesting UNICCO's actions. They are hoping University of Miami President, former Clinton Administration official Donna Shalala, will intervene and call on UNICCO to end its poor treatment of the workers and allow them to form a union with SEIU free of intimidation and coercion.

What civil rights are being abused?

Well, fire them all and hire some new immigrants.

Let them strike.

And when they cant do the job they are getting paid to do,FIRE THEM.

mysteryman, the recent demonstrations show how well organized these workers are. Their power is enormous. If they all chose to take a week off that power would be shockingly evident.

At their employment level, one could assume there are 50-100 others among the unemployed who'd like to take their places.

Either they go back to work, or they're fired. What if all the students refused to pay their tuition? Would the University give in and
let them take courses for free and still graduate?

:wink:

What if all taxpayers refused to pay their taxes?

Uh huh. This will be a wonderful opportunity for them to find out exactly how irreplaceable they really are.

Miller, haha. Well that's how the Company sees it. But the recent demonstrations show how well organized these workers are. How ya gonna keep em down on the farm after they've seen Paree? Chirac and Villepien found out the hard way.

Will these illegals really like to pay union dues, when they're only making about $8/hour?

The union promoters are "using" the illegals to promote the unions, not the well being of the workers. Recall what the unions did to the Steel Mills, the US auto industry (GM and Ford ), and last but not least the meat-packing industries. And the workers in those jobs were all LEGAL US citizens.

The feds are finally penalizing companies for hiring illegal workers. I've read someplace that the penalty is $250,000 for each illegal caught working for them.

How many of these janitors are here legally? I bet if they did a sweep they would probally end up taking half of them off to the pokey.

USA: VICTORY FOR MIAMI STRIKERS

Less than two weeks ago, I wrote to ask your support for striking workers at
the University of Miami. Those workers had chosen to go on hunger strike
rather than bow down before a company which was refusing to grant them dignity
at work.

Today I am very pleased to report that the dispute is now over, and on May Day
450 poverty-wage janitors won the right to form a union and raise living
standards for their families.

They won because they stood firm, because they were willing to risk their lives
in hunger strikes which caught the attention of the world. They won because
they were supported by students who joined them in the hunger strike and who
helped rally broad community support. They won because they and their union,
the SEIU, were able to mobilize far beyond the campus and involved religious
leaders, civil rights campaigners and politicians like former Senator John
Edwards.

And they won because of you.

Your 5,000 messages of protest and solidarity represented one of the largest
international trade union campaigns LabourStart has ever been involved in.
That campaign took off like a rocket, flooding the inbox of the university
president with hundreds of messages in the first few hours.

The workers in Miami were aware of your efforts and their own website was
periodically updated to reflect the growth of the international campaign you
were part of.

What a great May Day present -- and what an incentive to all of us to intensify
our efforts to pressure employers all over the world to recognize unions, and
to treat workers with dignity.