Orange County Janitors Vote Overwhelmingly to Authorize Strike

More than 3,000 janitors demonstrated outside buildings owned by
The Irvine Company on April 30, 2008.

Santa Ana, Calif. – Janitors who clean Orange County’s high-rise offices, retail shopping centers including Fashion Island, Irvine Spectrum Center and other facilities voted today on whether or not to walk off the job.  Today’s overwhelming vote authorizing the janitors’ bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary means that janitors representing more than 2,000 Orange County janitors could call for a county-wide strike at any time.

“I want to be able to imagine a better life for my daughters, but right now it’s hard to think about the future when I’m struggling to pay rent and put food on the table,” said Ramona Padilla, a janitor who cleans the Irvine Towers.  Ramona has worked as a janitor for 17 years and still earns less than $350 a week.

The Orange County Central Labor Council will announce their decision to extend a strike sanction at a press conference scheduled for 11:00 AM on Monday, May 5. With a strike sanction, the county’s 80 local unions and 140,000 union members are pledging to honor janitor picket lines during the upcoming strike.
Read the full press release

Recent coverage of janitors in the news:

May 6, 2008
Orange County's Janitors Authorize a Strike California Real Estate Journal Online
May 5, 2008
Union gives strike go ahead: Union president says janitors only make $8.65 an hour; bargaining coordinator says union’s proposal is weak Daily Pilot

» Read more about janitors in the news...
» View photos from recent demonstrations .