Victory for the Common Good

Below is the text from Rabbi Laurie's announcement on the Janitors victory. 

Dear ICWJ Friends and Colleagues;

With a great sense of blessing and gratitude we are sending you this notification that Janitors in San Diego County ratified their contract this past weekend.  Which is to say that Janitors voted to accept the proposed contract after months of difficult and demoralizing negotiations with the janitorial contractors.  We are elated for SEIU-USWW leader, Sandra Diaz, the amazing Janitors on the bargaining team, the Janitors who serve downtown and the suburbs, the contractors, the building owners, the tenants and the public who will reap the benefits of clean and sanitized spaces.

This contract includes significant gains:

    It maintains and protects healthcare without co-pays for downtown Janitors

    All Janitors in the suburbs with 18 months of employment will be eligible for individual healthcare!

    Suburban Janitors with 2 years of employment in 2015 will be eligible for family healthcare!

    Dignified wage increases are included in each of the four years of the contract

 The contract contains, for the first time, immigration language to protect workers in the case of No-  Match Letters

Many years ago Donald Cohen taught me that one never knows which action, which call, which letter, which rally, which pilgrimage, which delegation, which prayer, which story… is the one that pushes a campaign over the critical edge toward victory.  After more than a decade of advocating with you beside the Janitors, this is the contract that truly moves their families toward self-sufficiency in San Diego.  True, the waiting time for health care is still too long, but it is a significant improvement over the last contract.  After a decade, Janitors cleaning in the suburbs finally have healthcare themselves and a pathway toward full family healthcare like their colleagues downtown.

“This is the day that the Eternal has made – let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  

As we rejoice, we spend a moment in gratitude

 For the courageous Janitors, women and men who risk all for their co-workers, families, and for workers that come after them

 For their representatives at SEIU-USWW, the San Diego Labor Council leaders and affiliates, and the Center on Policy Initiatives who stood with Janitors during this struggle

 For managers, building owners, and contractors who grew in their humanity by finally embracing the dignity of those who serve them .

 For legislators who intervened on behalf of workers who sought the chance to take their families to the doctor.

 For the San Diego Police Department who worked with us to ensure the safety of workers and supporters from Downtown to Del Mar Highlands as hundreds marched, prayed and delegated.

For the Church of the Brethren and Pastor Sara Haldeman-Scarr for providing holy sanctuary and housing to fasting Janitors.

 For ICWJ faith leaders and members who have embraced the San Diego Janitors for more than a decade and who have prayed with their feet for Justice for Janitors in every conceivable way

 For ICWJ staff Lisa and Sophie who worked tirelessly alongside Janitors and union staff to support the Janitors and keep us educated and up to speed every step of the journey.

For all these and more we are grateful on this day.  Today is a day to deliver milk and honey.  Indeed we have come to a new land of promise and opportunity.

With a heart filled with gratitude and hope,

Rabbi Laurie