MILWAUKEE — Janitors in the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) held up signs and marched through downtown on Tuesday afternoon.
The workers are threatening to strike if their demands are not met in upcoming contract negotiations.
The workers and other allies of the movement met at Zeidler Union Square for a rally ahead of the march.
Custodial workers, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Rocio Sáenz, and Voces De La Frontera Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz all shared remarks.
Blanca Jimenez Navarro has been working as a janitor for 16 years.
“We are essential the same way that there are firemen, the medical staff, the teachers, and the policemen; everybody has their own part,” said Jimenez Navarro. “We have our own part too, and we deserve better pay.”
Blanca and other custodial workers are demanding a dollar raise each year over the next three years to start and a larger contribution into their 401(k)s.
It’s all part of a nationwide movement across the country for janitorial workers in the face of inflation and post-pandemic working conditions.
Currently, these janitors make $15.40 an hour on average, which can be difficult for someone like Blanca, who is raising a teenager.
“It’d be better for me if they gave me better pay and enough money to buy the necessities we need,” said Jimenez Navarro.
Other janitors at the rally, like Leticia Espinoza, want more than just their demands met. Her translator told TMJ4 it's all about respect for her in these upcoming negotiations.
"We're asking for managers, supervisors, and building owners to when they come, come with decency and respect; that's what we're asking for. Respect,” said Espinoza.
The union will start new contract negotiations with five major janitorial and building service companies next week.
“We have the same importance that everybody else—the teachers, the president, the government—has,” said Jimenez Navarro. “The only thing we have is a different title. We deserve better like everybody else.”
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