lang: en
Summary
In 1989-1990, the Service Employees International Union’s Justice for Janitors campaign organized Latino and African American janitors in Los Angeles to demand union contracts and higher wages. After a brutal police attack on peaceful demonstrators on June 15, 1990, public outrage and pressure from a union leader led to a contract with International Service Systems, including a wage increase and health coverage. The campaign successfully achieved its goals at Century City.
Background
In the 1980s, the janitors’ union Local 399 saw membership fall from about 5,000 to 1,800 as cleaning contractors turned to nonunion Latino immigrant workers willing to accept lower wages. The SEIU launched the Justice for Janitors campaign to organize nonunion buildings and target companies that illegally operated both union and nonunion operations.
What happened
Justice for Janitors arrived in Southern California in 1988, first targeting Century Cleaning, a small company with union and nonunion components, through house calls, card signing, and public protests such as street theater at a restaurant and chants at a golf club [source: nv-database]. This led to more contracts going to union firms, and by 1989 Local 399 negotiated a master agreement with American Building Maintenance [source: nv-database]. In summer 1989, the campaign shifted to Century City, where 250 of 400 janitors worked for International Service Systems (ISS) [source: nv-database]. After months of pressure, a strike began on May 29, 1990, with daily actions including chants and drum-banging in office buildings [source: nv-database]. On June 15, 1990, police brutally attacked a peaceful demonstration, injuring several people and causing a miscarriage; the attack was caught on camera [source: nv-database]. The violence inspired protesters and sparked widespread outrage, leading Gus Benova, president of New York’s SEIU Local 32B-32J, to pressure ISS’s president to recognize the union [source: nv-database]. ISS then signed a contract with a $2 per hour wage increase and full family health coverage [source: nv-database].
Key people & organizations
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
- Local 399
- International Service Systems (ISS)
- Gus Benova
- Century Cleaning
- American Building Maintenance
Tactics used
- boycotts-and-strikes
- nonviolent-direct-action
- civil-resistance
- coalition-building
- framing-and-narrative
- methods-of-nonviolent-action
The campaign combined direct organizing of workers with highly visible, confrontational public protests to pressure cleaning contractors and their clients, and leveraged media coverage of police violence to build public support and elite pressure. [source: nv-database]
Outcome
Verdict: won.
The campaign achieved its goal of union contracts for all Century City janitors, with a wage increase and health coverage, scoring 10 out of 10 points on the success scale. The police attack backfired, galvanizing protesters and prompting intervention from a union leader that forced ISS to negotiate. [source: nv-database]
Lessons
- Visible, confrontational protests can pressure companies by creating complaints from tenants and clients.
- Police violence against peaceful demonstrators can backfire, generating public sympathy and media attention that strengthens the campaign.
- Building alliances with union leaders in other regions can apply pressure on corporate headquarters.
Sources
- Global Nonviolent Action Database —
[[nv-database]]
Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.
Sources & verification
nv-database— grounding: primary — license: link-only- Rewritten: 2026-06-25 via
worker_casestudies_v2.py