Janitors Organize for Better Treatment at Catholic Univ.

The Washington Peace Letter is published monthly for the social justice community of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Its purpose is to support local, national and international struggles against oppression. It seeks to present a radical analysis of current events, covering information not readily available in the corporate media.

The Peace Letter welcomes submissions of calendar announcements, articles, letters to the Editor, and artwork from the progressive community. Articles may be from 300-1200 words, but may be edited for space considerations. Preference is given to materials that cover actions or organizing campaigns in the D.C. metropolitan area.

We reserve the right to select or reject any submission.

Except as noted, Peace Letter items are copyright free and may be reproduced. Please give credit and send us a copy if you do use something.

The Service Employees International Union represents 130 janitors at Catholic University. For the last nine months, the University has engaged in efforts to break the janitors' union and refuses to sit down to find a solution to the extreme poverty wages of these workers. Catholic University janitors are the lowest paid university janitors in Washington, D.C.; their pay averages less than $8 per hour and most cannot afford health insurance for themselves, much less their families. All of them are people of color; a majority are African-American women. In response to efforts by the union to bargain a stronger contract, the University withdrew recognition from the union and engaged in a variety of tactics including

• banning organizers from campus
• using security guards to monitor and frighten workers
• videotaping workers participating in a prayer march
• using a well-known anti-union lawyer to handle the dispute
• spending thousands of $ trying to get a restraining order against a peaceful protest.

The University is represented by Allen Siegel, a management lawyer who for years represented the downtown building owners in the now-famous fight against the Justice for Janitors campaign. The Union is asking concerned citizens to send an email and letter to the President, with a copy to us, asking the University to sit down and meet with the workers and their union. Also, the Justice for Janitors Student Solidarity Committee is seeking members to build support for the janitors.

For further information, contact Emilie Junge at 1-800-424-8592 ext. 424 (for those out of town) or if in D.C., (202) 898-3424.