5000 Janitors Organize in Delay's Back Yard
Nothing like this has been seen in twenty-five years in Houston: 5000 Houston janitors have organized a union at the four largest cleaning companies in the city.
Now what's the big deal about 5000 members?
Tasini, with Ezra Klein chiming in, treat it as a tiny drop in the bucket. As Tasini argues:
[W]hile 5,000 new members is nothing to sneeze at, we need to keep in mind that, as a whole, organized labor needs to recruit a NET of 1.5 million members a year to raise its overall density in the workforce by just ONE PERCENT. So, in essence, we need a Houston janitors' victory almost every day to grow the labor movement's power.Which lets numbers get in the way of analysis of why the Houston win is one of the most important victories in decades.
5000 new members in New York City would be a yawn-- in fact, SEIU has organized far more than 5000 janitors in northern New Jersey in recent years, which is important but not life changing for the labor movement.
But these workers were organized in the South in the private sector, a feat that promises new tactics to support a range of organizing in the region.
The failure to organize the South is the number one, two and three reason why the labor movement peaked after the end of World War II and has been in slow then faster decline ever since. Without unions in the South, it meant that jobs could be shifted more easily out of pro-union areas even for companies that wanted to be in the United States; just look at the Japanese car plants.
And, as significantly, the lack of unions in the South left unions with no political presence in a giant region of the country, meaning that even moderate Democrats did not politically defend union interests in Congress or in state legislatures enacting "right to work" laws and other anti-union measures.
The success of the janitors union was driven by new tactics to put national pressure on the contracting companies to force them to recognize the local janitors in Houston, a tactic that if it's perfected and replicated could leverage more and more Houston's "every day."
And in the shorter term, just think of the Houston janitors as a beachhead in hostile territory. We can sometime look at the numbers and forget how significant even a small union presence can be in an area with very little organizing at all. Do these numbers-- janitors pay dues of roughly $20 per month, or a bit over $200 per year. Multiply by 5000 and you suddenly have an organization with $1 million per year to promote organizing and political mobilization in the Houston area.
Add a few more around the region and you've added what will automatically become major new political and social institutions in regions that now lack them. Just by existing, the Houston janitors will be an example to other workers that they can organize and they can win even in the South-- a key message for any hope of labor revival.
So yes, 5000 Houston janitors is a tremendous victory of historic proportions.
This is tremendously good news for anyone who recognizes Unions for their invaluable contribution to our society. Even exempt employees in the modern economy enjoy health benefits, family leave, and other benefits that exist precisely because Unions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries changed the rhetoric of employment across the country.
I have always been of an opinion that the political contribution of Unions should take a back seat to orgainization. The blight of anti-Union companies in the South is but one example of the need for a stronger push towards enrollment. It is good to see that the Unions are starting to do this. I note that the SEIU broke off from the mothership for just this reason, and lo and behold, they're doing it.
December 1, 2005 7:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Do these numbers-- janitors pay dues of roughly $20 per month, or a bit over $200 per year. Multiply by 5000 and you suddenly have an organization with $1 million per year to promote organizing and political mobilization in the Houston area."
Well, you COULD have, depending on what the upper levels of the union do with that money. I don't have the confidence that you have in them. Though it would be very inspiring were it to happen.
December 1, 2005 8:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
San Francisco of the South!!!!
Fight back.
December 1, 2005 9:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
"The failure to organize the South is the number one, two and three reason why the labor movement peaked after the end of World War II and has been in slow then faster decline ever since. Without unions in the South, it meant that jobs could be shifted more easily out of pro-union areas even for companies that wanted to be in the United States; just look at the Japanese car plants."
Just a little historical perspective: The post-war south consisted of "yellow-dog" Democrats who hated Republicans for freeing the slaves but who were anti-union. There was no labor movement in the south because there were no real Democrats to produce one.
After LBJ signed the Civil and Voting Rights Acts in 65, the "yellow-dogs" reverted to their Republican ways. Thus began the Nixon "Southern Strategy" and the formation of the Republican South.
Roosevelt's coalition was over.
December 1, 2005 9:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Cold water from the rare and endangered Texas 22 Democrat:
The problem is that there are very, very, very, weak laws (if any) in Texas protecting unions. These companies will set up non-union subsidiaries that will soon take away all of the business from the union companies. There is no reason to expect that janitors will have any more success at this than construction or manufacturing. One of my former clients was a very large union construction shop up until the bust of the early 80s. Then their non-union subsidiary company became the primary company and the union version just faded away.
December 1, 2005 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
anti-unionism in progressive circles is a rot that must be cut out. you can be as 'progressive' as you want to but if you don't support the rights of workers to bargain collectively for a fair share of the value that their labor produces then you might as well become a moderate republican. perhaps you can help them get their heads out of their assess on non-economic issues.
now its funny reading some of the kvetching about unionization in the auto industry off this thread. lets be clear: the people making decisions on design and product mix are in management not the UAW. the reason igenerally won't buy an american car is because of its unappealing in design and made with chintzy parts. it has nothing to do with the labor status of the people who put it together. americans will buy vehicles produced by union members once MANAGEMENT gets its head out of its ass and gives them a product that they want.
as for unionism in construction - the industry i'm in - the major unions in this sector have gotten a clue and are organizing aggressively. my own union has grown by more than 30% in the past decade, with much of that growth occuring in the union-hostile central valley. we're improving people's wages, giving them health and pension benefits, increasing safety, and improving skills. and now we're expanding our vision to start shaping and re-shaping the physical arrangement of the commnities we're in towards the broader progressive agena that includes more affordable housing, better environmental management, and proper impact mitigation.
we may have some ways to go, but its better than the alternative.
December 1, 2005 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
One of the reasons that it is so hard to organize in the south and more so, the constructiuon industry, is the prevalence of illegal immigrants. They are not going to risk not only their job, but deportation, for an abstract benefit.
December 1, 2005 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
My educated guess that a significant chunk of the Houston janitors who just organized are undocumented, as are significant numbers of the tens of thousands of janitors and home health care workers who have unionized in recent years.
In many cases, undocumented workers have been more willing to stand up and fight than citizens for a whole host of reasons.
for more, see here and here.
December 1, 2005 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
After spending much of my thanksgiving holiday arguin with family members about unions, I'm starting to realize the level of ignorance that exists amongst liberals/progressives about what unions are and what they do. It has helped me appreciate this site more, because now I have a context for many of the comments.
So, a couple of quick thoughts...
I agree with Nathan that this victory is much bigger than simply the numbers it represents. I actually think that much more important than the 1 million or so dollars a year, though, is what having a active and militant base of union members in houston.
On that note, LarryC's comment strikes me as laughable. If the scary "upper levels of the union" are so untrustworthy, then why does SEIU invest millions of dollars in organizing places like houston? It will be many many years before the amount of money spent on organizing the Houston janitors will be equalled by the dues they pay. If it was simply a financialy calculation, and the upper levels of the union union were so unscrupulous, they would be much better off taking the money spent on organizng places like houston and doing unscrupulous things with that money in the first place.
Second, while I have no idea what your politcal leanings are, you say that " an organization with $1 million per year to promote organizing and political mobilization in the Houston area" would be a good thing, so I will assume you lean to the left. If you live in a so called blue state or city, I would bet that you have recieved a phone call, a mailer, or had your door knocked by union members in the last couple of election cycles. Without the contribution on time and money from unions there would be no function progressive political movement in this country, and frankly without SEIU, there would be a much less well functioning one.
This victory is tremendously important for all the workers of houston as well as for the the labor and progressive movements nationally. If you consider yourself a progressive and you don't understand that you really need to educate yourself, because your ignorance is hurting us all.
December 4, 2005 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink