Miami's Great Divide: The Poorest Clean Offices of the Richest
Posted March 13, 2012 08:35 am
By
Stephanie Carroll Carson
MAIMI, FL - Miami is known for its high-rise office buildings and affluence, but a growing disparity between the wealthiest and those who clean up after them has some labor groups crying foul.
For the last three years, Henry Urbina, father of
three, has been working at a swank downtown Miami office
building, encountering white-collar workers whose
clothing may cost more than he makes in a week. And a
labor union that wants to represent the workers says
Urbina is one of thousands of cleaners in Miami making
$8000 less per year than people doing the same jobs in
other big cities.
Through a translator, Urbina says his hourly wage varies
weekly depending on his job assignment, from $7 to $9 an
hour.
"No... I am not receiving a fair wage. If they could pay
me less, they would. They vary our wages as they
please."
Urbina and other Miami building cleaners and security
workers have begun to organize with the help of the
service workers' union SEIU local 32BJ, seeking what
they say are fair and consistent wages.
Forbes magazine recently labeled Miami the "most
miserable city" in the U.S., noting its high cost of
living, low wages for blue-collar workers, and violent
crime.
Eric Brakken is the director of SEIU 32BJ in south
Florida. He says if employees like Urbina were paid
fairly, they could offer a greater contribution to the
community.
"If we build a bigger middle class, we build a better
city. If folks don't have access to health care from
their employer, they wait 'til they get very sick and go
to the emergency room, and we all end up paying for
that."
Urbina cleans floors in the office building that houses
Wells Fargo, a company reporting significant profits in
the last year. He believes he is unfairly compensated
considering the amount of work that's involved.
"What they are doing is unfair... We have no medical
insurance; the job is hard on our bodies."
According to the labor union, office cleaners in Miami
earn $4 an hour less than building cleaners working in
other large metropolitan areas with costs of living
similar to Miami's.