Protesters march at Fashion Island

Lolita Harper

FASHION ISLAND -- More than 200 demonstrators marched down Newport

Center Drive on Friday to protest the use of nonunion janitors in some

Fashion Island offices.

Busloads of demonstrators marched about two blocks before stopping in

front of an office building in the 600 block -- one of the buildings that

contracts with A&D; Building Maintenance. The marchers’ purple union

shirts and faded bluejeans were a stark contrast to the suited people of

the Newport Beach business community who were also on the street for

their lunch hour.

Union members contend that nonunion companies such as A&D; Building

Maintenance win janitorial accounts by low bidding because they do not

pay workers a livable wage or offer benefits. Janitors with years on the

job can suddenly find themselves out of work, SEIU Local 1877 spokeswoman Blanca Gallegos said.

Officials at A&D; Building Maintenance could not be reached for

comment.

One worker, Tomas de Los Angeles, said he was fired from his

janitorial position after 10 years on the job because the company decided

to use a nonunion company.

“They didn’t care that I had worked day in and day out for them, for

next to nothing, for 10 years. They just fired me,” de Los Angeles said.

To keep it from happening to other workers, marchers also tried to

garner support for a state Senate bill that would offer janitors more job

stability. SB 20 would require that companies taking over a union account

to hire existing janitors for a 90-day transition period, Gallegos said.

Three months would allow the workers time to prove themselves to the new

company or grant them time to find other jobs.

Janitor Andres Sosa said the latter would be preferable for most

workers. Janitors in nonunion companies often receive even lower wages

and can be fired on a moment’s notice, he said. Sosa would like to see

all janitorial services belong to the union, he said.

“Unions respect my time that I have worked with them and they

understand that I have a family to support,” Sosa said in Spanish.

Although Sosa and many of his fellow marchers were not displaced like

de Los Angeles, they felt they were obliged to fight for all janitors.

“I am out here supporting my fellow janitors so that what happened to

me, won’t happen to them,” said Gabriella Pabia, who lost her job a few

years ago but now works as a janitor for the Orange County.

Pabia’s 2-year-old daughter dashed in and out of her mother’s legs,

unaware that her mother was fighting to secure a better future for her.

“Nonunion companies don’t care that you have a family, they don’t even

treat you like a person,” Pabia said. “They don’t offer you any security

for your family or yourself, and that is not right.”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .