University of Miami Janitors and Landscapers Vote to Strike: It's about a living wage
Posted August 26, 2013 12:15 am
By Stephanie Carroll Carson | Public News Service
MIAMI, FL – On Saturday, janitors and landscapers at the University of Miami authorized a strike if an agreement on wages and benefits cannot be reached by September 1. This decision comes seven years after janitors at the university staged a historic nine-week strike over wages and working conditions.
According to Eric Brakken, Florida director of the
union that represents the workers,
32BJ SEIU, improving wages for the more than 400
workers involved is needed to sustain them in the
high-cost city.
"This is how inequality happens in our city, is workers
not earning nearly enough of what it takes to live here,
and that's what this is all about," Brakken declared.
Union photo of Erick Brakken
The janitors are employees of
DTZ Janitorial Service as well as members of 32BJ
SEIU. The company's current proposal would pay employees
two cents more an hour. Brakken said that won't be
enough to bring them up to a living wage, which, in the
Miami area, is a little more than $12 an hour.
Clara Vargas is an immigrant from Cuba and works as a
janitor in the residence halls. She and her co-workers
believe now is the time to take a stand.
"Everybody's ready," she said. "If we cannot get better
salaries and better benefits in this contract,
everybody's ready to go to the strike."
The September 1st strike would come just days after the
start of the University's fall semester. Brakken said
that while it's the employees at the University of Miami
who are taking a stand, there are also other
universities in Florida not paying a living wage.
"These are the jobs that make up the bulk of our economy
down here," the union official stated. "If we are to
have the middle class, then these jobs have to become
jobs that can sustain families."
During the 2006 strike, over 100 faculty members held
classes off campus to show support for their fellow
employees.
Photos and links added by the Observer