“NOW MORE THAN EVER” 1

Janitors, activists busted
in Columbus protest
By Steve Palm-Houser
From examiner.com
“NOW MORE THAN EVER”
10
In the book “All Labor Has
Dignity,” Reverend Martin
Luther King described how the
organized labor movement first
came into being: “The worker
became determined not to wait
for charitable impulses to grow in
his employer. He constructed the
means by which a fairer share of
the fruits of his toil had to be given
to him.”
Janitors in the Midwest have
decided not to wait for charitable
impulses to grow in their
employers. A series of strikes
began last month in Columbus,
Ohio, and janitors in Cincinnati
went on strike for the first time last
Thursday.
On the same day 12 supporters
from Chicago, Cleveland, Toledo
and Columbus were arrested
in a supportive act of civil
disobedience at PNC Bank in
Columbus to raise awareness of
unfair labor practices by New
York-based ABM Industries, the
largest janitorial contractor in the
U.S.
“At the negotiating table, ABM
was the ringleader—demanding a
part-time janitorial workforce in
Columbus,” said Claude Smith, a
Vietnam War veteran and full-time
ABM janitor in Columbus.
“I don’t understand why,” Smith
said. “We show up every day and
we work hard doing the best job
we can. I know ABM can afford
good jobs. We just want to be able
to put food on the table and maybe
save a little for retirement.”
Part-time status would make the
janitors ineligible for companyprovided
health insurance, sick
leave and other benefits.
“I am supporting this cause
because I cannot see myself
working part-time without
benefits,” said Griselda Paz, a
mother of three and a Chicago
janitor for more than 20 years.
“We are all in this together.”
Janitors in Columbus currently
earn an average of $18,000 a year,
below the federal poverty line for
a family of four. Like Wal-Mart
employees, many of the janitors
rely on SNAP and other assistance
programs to make ends meet.
I was one of the 12 arrested
in Columbus. I’m not a union
member, but I support the work of
SEIU Local 1 to protect workers
from corporate greed. Wealth
inequality in the U.S. is at its
worst level since before the Great
Depression.
Corporations have been
exploiting workers in all of the
service industries with impunity
for decades. People who care
about economic justice want
to change that. But Corporate
America isn’t going to change its
practices and priorities because we
ask nicely.
Steve Palm-Houser is a member
of the First Unitarian Universalist
Church in Columbus. He studies
the mystical aspects of several
world religions. Steve works as an
instructional designer and freelance
writer. He can be reached at steve.
palmhouser@gmail.com.
Photos: Michael Alwood