SEIU: California Latino Legislative Caucus Reveals How State's Top Industries are Contributing to Poverty Among Janitors

Caucus Releases New Report, “The High Cost of Low Wage Service Jobs”

Sacramento, Calif. – Members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus released a new report today, “The High Cost of Low Wage Service Jobs” examining the ways in which the state’s top industries -- including commercial real estate, high-tech and bio-tech giants -- are contributing to poverty conditions among the state’s 20,000 janitors.

“California’s top industries that benefit from the janitors’ hard work need to take responsibility to make these service jobs good jobs for the sake of our communities,” said Senator Gil Cedillo, Co-Chair of the Latino Caucus, who spoke at a mid-morning press conference today at the capital.

Janitors are mostly Latino and often work in the obscurity of night servicing California’s most prestigious corporations, but they earn wages so low that they struggle to provide adequate housing for their families. A janitor would need to work 112 hours a week on the current wages just to meet basic needs for a family of four, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Some janitors, such as those in Orange County, pay up to 90% of their income for a one-bedroom apartment. Janitors keep medical research facilities clean and safe but many do not have access to basic healthcare for themselves or their families.

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.
Click here to read the full press release.