March for a Responsible Real Estate Industry: Thursday, August 2nd

March with hundreds of janitors, community members, immigrant leaders, church members, politicians, and others to demand that, at a time of the highest rents on record, janitors receive a decent wage.

From Providence RI to Manchester NH, from Boston to Springfield and many places in between, we will be marching to make our call for justice heard.

Sign the “Call for a Responsible Real Estate Industry” and walk with us.

Here is the updated list of rally locations all around the area. See you at the action nearest you!

Rally Locations

Click on the address links for maps of the rally locations

Boston: Meet at Downtown Crossing on Summer St 4:15
Billerica: 129 Concord Rd., 5-6pm
Cambridge: Meet at the Kendall Square T 4:45
Burlington: corner of Burlington Mall Rd and S. Bedford St., 5-6pm
Marlborough: 33 Boston Post Rd., 5-6pm
Springfield: City Hall, 11:30 am-12:30pm
Westborough: 4400 Computer Dr., 4-6pm
Waltham: Exit 27 on I-95 (Totten Pond Rd), Ave. 4:30-6pm

For more information:

Ana Horton 617-878-7483 ahorton@seiu615.org

Jeremy Shenk 617-878-7529 jshenk@seiu615.org

It's only fair: Ricardo Monroy

My name is Ricardo Monroy. I came to the U.S. in 2000, and it was really hard at first. In 2001 I started working as a janitor, first at the Hynes Convention Center from 2001 to 2003. Then I moved to the airport, where I’m still working for Hurley of America. Two years ago I started working with UNICCO in the John Hancock building from 6 to 11 at night.

Life here in the United States is pretty complicated. We have to work two jobs, because the cost of living is so high. When I left my country, I imagined that I could get ahead economically and give my family a better life. But, sadly, I haven’t been able to achieve my goals despite working two jobs, because life costs so much: rent, bills, car insurance. Everything has been so complicated, but I’m still here, working hard, and I have faith that during this year’s negotiations, we can win the wage improvements we deserve, that will let us get ahead and improve our lives.

I dream of giving my children the opportunity I never had. I want them to study. I have two kids. The younger one is named Nestor, and he always says he wants to learn architecture. But if the economic situation doesn’t improve, it will be tough to achieve that. It’s a hard dream to realize. I trust in God that our fight will bring good results, so we can improve our lives and win the dreams we’ve always had.

I work 37.5 hours at the airport and 25 hours at John Hancock. It’s a lot of time. It’s a problem because I can’t spend the time with my family that they need. My kids are left alone; we have to pay someone to watch them because my wife also works. This has caused problems now that they are at an age where they want to play. They want someone to take them to the park, but unfortunately we don’t have the time to give them what they wanted. Our day off, we have to catch up on things at home, do the laundry, pay the bills and everything. That’s what we do on our day off.

I have only a few hours to spend time with my kids, to take them out, and I ask them to understand. It’s really tough because when they are young, they don’t see me as a worker. They want to see their dad, who can take them out. They don’t want a worker who cleans buildings, earning our daily bread. Sadly, one salary isn’t enough to cover our needs. This is why we need to fight hard. I believe that someday we will see good changes, if through this fight, we can win enough for all the workers.

This really affects the entire immigrant community. My case is not the exception. All the immigrants and all the janitors face the same situation. We all end up leaving our kids home alone, or paying someone to watch them while we’re at work. And the worst result is that when the kids become teens, they may be steered wrong, since there are all kinds of dangers in our neighborhood: drugs, alcohol, gangs. We run the risk in many places of losing our children. So this is not just my issue. All the janitors, all those who come to this country, run the same risk.

I want to call on the companies, those representing the companies at the bargaining table, to examine their conscience, and realize that what we ask for is fair, and we ask because we need to improve our communities’ economic situation. We work hard; we understand that they make good money off their contracts. So I think it’s only fair that they share those profits with their employees.

Marching for a New England that Works for All!

On Thursday, July 12th, workers and community members brought our voices to the streets again to call attention to low wages and lack of health insurance and sick days. Parents are tired of the many part-time jobs they must work and long days without seeing their children. Workers with many years of experience want job security and opportunities for full-time work.

New England is one of the most expensive areas of the country to live. In the first contract bargaining for regional janitors since the 2002 strike, workers are looking to close the gap between the region's wealthiest and poorest individuals. But while the regional real estate industry made more than $4.2 billion dollars in total sales last year, the first reaction from employers at the bargaining table was to say no to proposed improvements in working conditions.

New England needs to work for all of us, not just a few.

Scenes from the streets on July 12 in Boston, Cambridge, Canton, Framingham, Marlborough, Wakefield, Waltham, New Hampshire, and Lincoln, Rhode Island:

Click here to see more pictures from July 12th events.

Stay tuned for more information on how to join us at the next event in your area!

Why We March: Workers' Stories

Zanoris Perez:
"I work in the Springfield School Department with a company called Educlean. I've been working there for almost a year. I'm a single mom to my two-year-old daughter. I only work four hours and with the wage that we're getting right now, it's not getting us through. I've put school off for a year to work, but looking at my situation right now, I'm not going to be able to go back to school next year.

School is my passion, I love it. I want to study pediatrics and nursing. But right now, I feel like I have to get a second job so we can at least get by. Getting a second job means I can't be in my daughter's life the way I want to. I'm not expecting to get rich, I just want to have one job, go to school, and take care of my family, so we can live ok. Not perfect, not poor, just ok. "

Selida Pol:

"I work for UNICCO at 99 High St, I work for Janitronics in Cambridge, and I work for Tufts University in Chinatown. I have 3 jobs, working 15 hours a day; I hardly get any sleep, just 4 or 4 1/2 hours. Most janitors are immigrants and we have families in our countries, and working one full-time job doesn't bring in enough to support ourselves here and send something to our families.

We are fighting in this new contract for better salaries, better treatment, more sick days because we only have two sick days and no one gets sick for just two days a year. We have to work hard to support the union, because getting this new contract is very important to winning respect for the workers and a better life."

Workers Speak from the Heart

"Like many other immigrant parents, I am very frustrated and sad. I can't support my family on one job. I need to work day and night; my children and many others don't have the attention of their parents. They take to the streets and get into trouble."
-- Carlos Vargas

"I am a single mother of three children. Even with my two jobs, I can't keep up with paying for the necessities of life; I always have more bills."
-- Candida Gomes

"I work in Burlington and have applied for years to transfer to a full-time job in downtown Boston. We want notice of these jobs, and to bid them by seniority."
-- Ana Lucia Pareja

Welcome to A New England that Works for Everyone!

A booming real estate industry needs to take responsibility

With more than $10 billion dollars in total sales last year, the Boston commercial real estate market is hot! The Hancock Tower sold twice in two weeks, each time at a higher price! Average asking rents have shot up astronomically in the past 3 years. Explosive increases in downtown Boston have pushed rents to from $47 per square foot 6 months ago to $64 per square foot today, up 100% since 2003.

“It’s a landlord’s market,” said Ronald K. Perry, executive vice president at Meredith & Grew quoted in Banker and Tradesman. “Building sales have been occurring at a record clip, putting upward pressure on rents.”

In Boston and New England, we are now part of the national and global economy. Just as once locally-owned Gillette is now owned by Proctor & Gamble and Bank of Boston/Fleet is now owned by North Carolina-based Bank of America, the real estate and property services industry is no longer owned and controlled locally. Our real estate owners are from Chicago, New York, or LA. Unicco the largest local cleaning contractor, based in Newton with almost 4000 employees in New England, has just been sold to an Australian firm for almost half billion dollars. Money is being made and flowing out of our region. Our campaign calls on the real estate industry to invest in the communities where it operates.

While janitors and security officers may seem invisible, imagine how the daily operations of most businesses would stop if they weren’t there to clean, maintain, and protect New England’s buildings. The work these men and women provide is valuable. They should be given respect not only in how they are treated, but in how they are compensated.

Time to close the growing divide

A new study from the Carsey Institute at University of New Hampshire shows that “New England has the highest increase in income disparity in the country”. The workers who clean, scrub, maintain, and secure our office, university, mall and industrial buildings are facing a rapid decline in wages, benefits and overall quality of life.

In the first regional contract bargaining since the 2002 janitor strike, janitors are in a struggle for decent wages, more hours of work and health insurance. They need sick days, job security, and dignity and respect at work. Good jobs and opportunities for janitors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire will make New England and our neighborhoods stronger.

One obstacle janitors face is the overwhelming number of part-time jobs and the few openings for full-time work. The great majority of janitors are only offered part-time work—usually no more than 4 hours and in the suburbs just 3 ½ hours. At the current downtown Boston wage of $12.95, these workers are making just over $13,000 a year—just $1100 a month. Janitors in the suburbs and Providence do even worse, making between $9,300 and $10,500. Most janitors must piece together a living on 2 or 3 part-time jobs, and even so, are eligible for public assistance.

The real estate industry is booming, yet because few service workers in this industry receive health insurance coverage, many janitors and security officers must rely on the state to receive adequate health care for their families. Under the new law requiring that everyone have insurance, most janitors earn so little they will be eligible for public subsidy. Now, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is subsidizing the multi-billion dollar real estate industry by providing its workers with the bulk of their health coverage. With the new law, that subsidy will increase.

"Like many immigrant parents, I feel frustrated and full of sadness. I can’t support my family on one job. I need to work day and night. My children and many other young people don’t get the attention they need from their parents. So they are in the streets and can get into trouble."
–Carlos Vargas

Compare what janitors make to the Massachusetts Self-Sufficiency Standard in 2003 of $44,046 for one adult with one pre-school child and $54,612 for a two-parent family with two children.
For a full-time janitor, rent would take a whopping 62% of his or her gross income! A part-time janitor can’t even afford to rent a 2-bedroom apartment.

As Zanoris Perez says:

"Right now, I feel like I have to get a second job so we can at least get by. Getting a second job means I can't be in my daughter's life the way I want to. I’m not expecting to get rich, I just want to have one job, go to school, and take care of my family, so we can live ok. Not perfect, not poor, just ok."

Short part-time hours are not necessary. Boston is one of the few markets left that allows short part-time scheduling. Cities such as Houston, Denver, and Washington DC have all created more opportunities for workers to add more hours and move to 1 good, full-time job, instead of 3 part-time jobs.

“We all end up leaving our kids home alone, or paying someone to watch them while we’re at work. And the worst result is that when the kids become teens, they may be steered wrong, since there are all kinds of dangers in our neighborhood: drugs, alcohol, gangs. We run the risk in many places of losing our children.”
- Ricardo Monroy

Read Ricardo Monroy's whole statement.

It is the neighborhoods and communities in which janitors live that pay the price.

We call for a responsible real estate industry.