Janitor walk-out leads to labor strike

By Stacy Matros
Assistant City Editor

The University Park Campus and Norris Cancer Center janitors' walk-out on Tuesday night led to a strike against Service-Master Wednesday.
The janitors walked out around 10 p.m. Tuesday to protest unfair labor practices allegedly committed by USC's cleaning contractor, ServiceMaster. Janitors on strike did not come to work Wednesday.
According to data compiled by Henry Lacher, director of custodial services at USC and spokesman for ServiceMaster, only 59 of the 180 employed janitors have gone on strike.
Lacher said sign-in sheets from 10 p.m. Tuesday through Wednesday back up his numbers.
"That's only 33 percent," Lacher said.
However, Eddie Iny, organizer at Local 399 and of the strike, said around 120 workers have gone on strike. Local 399 is a subsidiary of Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
"It is obviously in ServiceMaster's interest to make it seem that the strike was not effective," Iny said.
The initial conflict stemmed from Local 399's ongoing attempt to represent janitorial employees at USC.
"The majority of employees have control over their destiny," Lacher said. "It would be unfair to the majority to give a vocal minority more control."
The National Labor Relations Board, a federal board that overviews employee and administration relations, has a democratic process that allows employees to elect a union representative, Lacher said. Local 399 has not attempted to go through this process.
"The NLRB process is slanted toward ServiceMaster," Iny said. "In the months that ... this voting process (takes), the company will harass and intimidate union supporters."
"It takes 42 days after a proposal is filed before an election," Lacher said." If a majority vote is passed, contract negotiations begin."
It would be a violation of employees' rights to accept union representation without a majority vote, Lacher said.
Since March 1996, Local 399 has filed 15 complaints with the NLRB against ServiceMaster about issues varying from harassment and intimidation to loitering policies.
"Fourteen of those have been dismissed by the NLRB," Lacher said. "The exception is the loitering policy, and that was settled last week."
The policy prohibited employees from gathering in university buildings on campus after their shift was over. But after a protest by Local 399, the policy was altered by the NLRB to allow access to buildings on campus that are open.
Both Local 399 and ServiceMaster have claimed harassment and intimidation.
"ServiceMaster has established a pattern of intimidation," Iny said. "The company will stop at nothing."
"I saw a union organizer grab a woman by her arm as she was trying to go to work (Tuesday) night," Lacher said. "They were yelling at the people that would not strike. That is where the real harassment is."
The AFL-CIO, the national parent organization of which certain labor organizations, is holding its annual meeting in Los Angeles at the Biltmore Hotel this week.
AFL-CIO president John Sweeny is a past president of SEIU. "I don't think it is coincidence that the strike came while John Sweeny was in town," Lacher said. "They were making a show for their boss while he is in town."
Local 399 denies any intentional connection between its activities and the annual meeting.
"It was just good timing," Iny said.