Rafael Ramos

Rafael thought cleaning the two and a half floors of one of Stanford University's largest buildings was a tough job. Then he was assigned to clean five additional floors in two other buildings a few months ago.

Stanford University carries high expectations for its students and workers. Each building must be cleaned thoroughly and left spotless.  "We take our jobs very seriously. We don't even take a five minute break.  When we leave work, we want our buildings to be clean, but it's almost impossible to do that when there is so much work to do."

Rafael started working at Stanford as a janitor seven years ago. He lives in East Palo Alto with his wife, two children, brother and sister-in-law in a two bedroom apartment. Living in a small space with a large family is difficult, but with the cost of living so high, Rafael cannot afford to pay for the apartment on his $1,600 a month pay.

"Rent keeps getting higher but our wages don't."

While every Stanford employee starts off getting paid $11.55 an hour, sub-contracted employees like Rafael, who works for ABM, start at $8.04 an hour because Stanford's living wage policy does not apply to sub-contractors.

"It's frustrating because I work on a campus with a good living wage and it's like we're invisible. But, we're not and janitors are taking a stand because we deserve to earn a wage so our families can live better."