On May 15th, after months of negotiations, contract talks for more than 6,000 janitors collapsed, as the Bay Area’s largest cleaning companies have been refusing modest pay and benefit improvements to janitors who currently earn $347 a week ($23,000 a year). Silicon Valley now leads the nation in average median income, but the janitors’ wages fall far below their counterparts in other U.S. cities (New York janitors earn $20.25; San Francisco janitors earn $17.05; Chicago janitors earn $14.20; Silicon Valley janitors earn $11.04).

On May 17th, Bay Area janitors voted to strike against the cleaning contractors that work with companies such as HewlettPackard, Cisco Systems, Oracle, Yahoo, Applied Materials, and Intel. On May 21st, over four hundred janitors walked out of a dozen locations in the South Bay. On the second day of the strike, many more janitors walked off their jobs including workers at Standford University . Teamsters have indicated that will not cross picket lines established by striking SEIU janitors. The action could mean that UPS drivers will not be able to deliver packages, city garbage could go uncollected, and construction could be interrupted.

On May 21st, striking janitors staged a morning protest at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting for Intel corporation in Mountain View. SEIU members gave out leaflets to those who invest in Intel. Several janitors and their supporters went into the meetings, where they demanded better pay and benefits from one of the Bay Area's high tech giants. Photos: 1 | 2

Janitors in Alameda County Are Granted Sanction to Strike | Day 2: Strike Spreads in Silicon Valley, Bay Area | Day 1: Silicon Valley Janitors Walking Off the Job Today | More Than 300 Labor Unions Across Bay Area Announce Strike Support, Vow to Honor Janitor Picket Lines | Bay Area Janitors Vote Overwhelmingly to Authorize Strike

SEIU United Service Workers West