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SEIU-USWW Janitors Organize Against Sexual Assault
In 2015, a group of janitors organized a screening of “Rape on the Night Shift”, a documentary on janitors’ experience with workplace sexual harassment and violence (SH/V). After surveying over 500 members, the union – Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW) – found that about half of their janitor members, many of whom are immigrant women, had experienced workplace SH/V, especially during the night shift when the buildings they clean are often empty. The union decided to take on the issue, starting with the fact that many janitors were not aware of what constituted SH/V or what recourse they had in that situation, since many feared that reporting the problem to their employer could be met with inaction or retaliation, while reporting it to a government agency was daunting for a community with a range of immigration statuses.
In 2016, union janitors together with non-union janitors with the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund (a watchdog organization partially funded by SEIU-USWW) organized to pass AB 1978, the Property Services Worker Protection Act, staging a five day hunger strike in front of the Governor’s office until it was signed. This bill required employers to provide two hours of in person, interactive training to focus on prevention, worker rights, and resources. Employers now had to show compliance in delivering this training in order to receive or renew their business license. Janitors then took another bold step, including a 100 woman, 100 mile march to the capital to pass a law (AB547) that requires employers to hire peer educators, or promotoras, to conduct the SH/V prevention trainings, using a curriculum developed in collaboration with LOHP. This was transformative as workers are more likely to relate to facilitators who have experience working as janitors and whose goal is to support and protect workers.
The organizing and power-buiding throughout the campaign resulted in the successful implementation of new contract language specific to SH/V (quoted in this section) which identifies topics for prevention trainings, specifies anti-retaliation policies for those who file SH/V claims, and mandates that employers respond to sexual assault cases within two weeks.
Grocery Store Workers Win Safety Audits in their Contracts
Starting in 2020, Southern California United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) locals won new language on health and safety in their contracts with Ralphs, Albertsons, Gelson’s, Super A Foods, Food 4 Less, CVS and Rite Aid. Most of these contracts now include language creating new store-based health and safety committees, and provide for two paid hours per month for employee committee members to complete a safety audit of their store in order to bring unsafe conditions to management’s attention. Here is one example of how these audits have led to safer working conditions.
A member of UFCW Local 324 works as a produce manager at Albertsons and volunteered to be on the Local’s new Safety Committee. He attended the Local’s one-day Safety Committee Training where he learned how to identify health and safety violations, report the hazards to management, and follow up to ensure the hazards were dealt with or fixed as soon as possible. Following the Safety Committee Program, he went back to his store and identified seven hazards throughout the store that were affecting everyone. During his safety audit (permitted as a part of the new contract language), he identified a large area of the store’s ceiling that had mold on it. He reported the hazard to management, and in response, they fixed the ceiling area with exposed mold and then replaced the ceiling panels. He also identified that the store’s first aid kits were half empty. After he reported it, management restocked the first aid kits. Lastly, he identified a metal plate on the floor in the deli that was raised an inch and a half, creating a dangerous slip and fall hazard. Management responded by re-bolting the metal plate so workers could no longer trip on it.
Winning the contract language on health and safety committees has empowered UFCW members to identify and address issues in their stores, creating safer working conditions.
NUHW Wins New Workplace Violence Protections
During the pandemic, workers at the Los Angeles (LA) LGBTQ Center – an outpatient health center that provides physical and mental health services to people who identify as LGBTQ – were growing increasingly concerned about workplace violence. The Center had faced at least one violent threat and, across the country, there was a rise in violence and threats that targeted the LGBTQ community. The workers, members of National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), worried about their own health and safety and that of patients seeking their services. Nurses were also managing patients who at times threatened violence against staff due to mental health issues.
While management had a safety program in place, it was not effective. The system to communicate about emergencies was confusing, protocols had not been updated, many of the panic buttons were broken and most workers had not been properly trained, including a lack of training on how to respond to active shooters or de-escalate dangerous situations. One evacuation plan instructed nurses to exit a building that no longer existed. Management made promises to address safety concerns but did not follow up, and often refused to bargain with workers over safety issues.
While negotiating their 2024 contract, the union was able to maintain “open bargaining” which permitted members outside of the bargaining team to participate, both remotely and in person. Fifty to seventy percent of the entire bargaining unit attended each bargaining session, where they articulated their lived experiences, gave testimonials of incidents that had made them feel unsafe, and advocated for solutions. Members also collaborated to write a letter to the LA LGBTQ Center’s CEO. The collective demonstration of power resulted in management responding to worker demands.
In July 2023, members ratified a contract with new health and safety provisions, including a security guard for the clinic, extra support for clinicians meeting with patients who have engaged in violent behavior in the past, the establishment of a workplace violence prevention program, and regular training on various topics including de-escalation of situations that could turn violent.
UPS Drivers Win National Heat Protections for the First Time
For years, drivers for the United Parcel Service (UPS) and other delivery companies have had to work in dangerously hot temperatures in trucks without any air conditioning. OSHA inspectors have recorded temperatures of up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit in these trucks during inspections in Arizona and Florida. More than 100 UPS drivers were hospitalized for heat illness over the last few years, including some who reported symptoms so severe that they suffered from kidney illnesses. While some local UPS Teamsters contracts have included air conditioning in trucks, there was no language related to heat illness prevention in the national agreement except for sleeper compartments.
In June 2023, UPS workers threatened to go on strike, which would have made it the largest single-employer strike in US history. Ultimately, the union reached a deal with UPS pre-strike that included major wins, among them a requirement that the company add air conditioning to trucks on a national scale for the first time. New vehicles, defined as those purchased after January 1, 2024, will require air conditioning systems, heat shields, and at least two fans. These vehicles will also be fitted with air induction vents to alleviate extreme temperatures in the backs of the vehicles. This win for UPS drivers will hopefully set a precedent for other logistics operators to follow suit.
Kaiser Nurses Win Health and Safety Protections
In September 2022, nurses at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center voted to ratify a new contract with added infectious disease protections and workplace violence safety measures. The California Nurses Association (CNA), which represents over 1,000 nurses at this facility, threatened a two-day strike but was able to reach an agreement after the first day. The new contract includes health and safety provisions to ensure that hospitals maintain a three-month stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE), screening protocols for infectious disease, and appropriate PPE for nurses caring for patients with COVID-19. The contract also includes comprehensive workplace violence prevention, including the expansion of protection plans and investigation protocols for workplace incidents as well as trauma counseling for nurses. A few months later, in November, nurses at Northern California Kaiser also won an agreement that provides the same health and safety provisions for nearly 21,000 represented nurses.
Survey Helps Hotel Workers Win Reduced Workload
A Hotel Employees/Restaurant Employees (HERE) union local in Las Vegas, Nevada wanted to find out if the workload of hotel guest room attendants (room cleaners) was affecting their health. Contract negotiations were coming up, and a reduced workload was to be a key demand.
HERE selected a group of academic researchers from the University of California and University of Nevada to conduct a worker health survey. The union felt that this team was committed to working with and involving worker leaders in all stages of the research process. A core group of 29 workers from many different hotels met after work over a seven-week period. Interpreters were made available since 85% of the workers were Spanish speakers. The workers talked about their jobs and their health, and sought to identify priority issues. The results were incorporated into a questionnaire, given to a large group of workers at five unionized hotels. This included questions about workload, health status, and injuries. The entire questionnaire was translated into Spanish and Serbo-Croatian. About three- quarters of the 1276 eligible day-shift room cleaners returned the questionnaire.
Over 78% of these workers reported having work-related pain during the last year, and almost 40% had high blood pressure, well above the 25% national average for adults. The survey sought to link these symptoms to working conditions. According to the survey data, the Las Vegas workers on the average clean 15.2 rooms per day, many of them suites. Most hotels have “incentive” programs to entice them to clean even more rooms. Incentives include dinner tickets for hotel dining rooms, gift cards for hotel shops, and chances at slot machines.
The survey found that 55% of these workers were dissatisfied with their jobs, 87% believed that over the past few years their jobs had become more demanding, and 66% skipped lunch or breaks or worked longer hours to complete their daily room assignments. Some even avoided drinking water to reduce trips to the bathroom. More than 75% experienced time pressure.
After the researchers released the survey results to the employers and the union, the health of room cleaners became an issue in Las Vegas. Workers were interviewed by TV, radio, and newspapers. They also distributed flyers and posters, and held well-attended rallies. This helped build their enthusiasm and commitment, and drew a lot of community support.
The union took the survey results into contract talks. Workers at 35 Las Vegas hotels overwhelmingly approved union contracts that set new workload limits and made other health and safety improvements, in part because of the University study.
Laundry Workers’ Committee Responds to Boiler Explosion
UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) found that health and safety can be a powerful way to activate and energize union members. The union’s worker committees have been successfully taking on OSHA issues at a chain of industrial laundries serving hospitals and other health care institutions.
There had just been a major boiler explosion at one of the shops. No one was hurt, but the explosion blew out the windows in a number of cars in the parking lot. Cal/OSHA had been called after the explosion, but inspectors had not contacted the union steward to accompany them. The union asked Cal/OSHA to include them in every aspect of the investigation from that point on. The union also filed a formal Cal/OSHA complaint about some aspects of the explosion and the cleanup that followed. For example, the company had not checked for the presence of asbestos before they began the cleanup.
In this shop, there were not enough activists to form a separate health and safety committee, so union staff worked with shop leaders on what was called a Justice Committee. The Justice Committee became involved in the Cal/OSHA complaint. Most conversations with Cal/OSHA were held on a speakerphone so everyone could hear. The Justice Committee also sent the Plant Manager a letter about their desire to designate representatives for any future Cal/OSHA inspections, and the lack of an effective alarm system in the plant. Justice Committee members were also concerned that the company would find ways to harass or fire them for breaking unwritten and unknown rules. They decided to make a request that management issue written work rules. They saw this as a way to protect themselves from reprisals.
Later, the union asked Cal/OSHA to hold the closing conference on its investigation in a park across from the laundry, during the shift change. The Justice Committee set up folding chairs in the park, made sodas available, and leafleted the plant to invite workers to come. Union staff and the committee also prepared some key questions that they believed would open Cal/OSHA’s eyes to other problems at the plant. About 70 workers showed up at the meeting. A Cal/OSHA industrial hygienist and a Cal/OSHA staff person who speaks Spanish spent over four hours answering workers’ questions and interviewing them about plant conditions.
“The important outcome was the sense of empowerment the workers in that shop now feel,” said a UNITE staff member. “Recently, when there was a problem with a natural gas smell in the shop, one of the Justice Committee members called Cal/OSHA directly for advice on how to proceed.”
