Mar 19, 2009 9:06 pm US/Pacific
Laid-Off Janitors Protest At Cisco Headquarters
SAN JOSE (BCN) ―
At least 200 people gathered outside Cisco Systems headquarters in San Jose on Thursday to protest the layoffs of about 75 janitors who worked in the buildings.
The protest was part of nationwide actions organized by the Service Employees International Union to fight what a union spokesman called "corporate excess."
Mike Chavez, an SEIU spokesman, said the protests in other parts of the country focused more on banks that have accepted billions of dollars in federal bailouts.
Chavez said Cisco fits into the protests because "there are all these low-wage service workers being laid off, but Cisco is one of the healthiest companies out there so we're questioning why they need to do this."
Chavez said at least 200 protesters marched east from the intersection of East Tasman Drive and Zanker Road to Cisco headquarters at 300 E. Tasman Drive, where picketing and brief speeches from workers took place.
Sylvia Ruiz, the political director for SEIU Local 1877, said 75 janitors, or about half the janitorial workforce, have been laid off from the company since November.
Ruiz said the layoffs are not only hurting the families of the workers, but could also hurt the business due to a drop in quality of service that can lead to unsanitary conditions.
"It's not like Cisco's closing whole buildings," Ruiz said. "There's still the same amount of work, but now with half the workforce, and they just can't do the same quality job."
The janitors are employed by American Building Maintenance, which performs contract work with Cisco.
Cisco spokeswoman Robyn Jenkins-Blum released a statement today saying the company "respects and supports the rights of our vendors' employees to fair treatment and the right to voice their concerns.
"Cisco does not control the employment practices of the thousands of vendors, partners, and contractors with whom it works, including the janitorial services company," she said.
But Ruiz said that "at the end of the day, Cisco puts forward the money for any janitorial contracts, and if ABM's laying off workers, Cisco could put up more money to make sure they keep the jobs there."
Eric Berman, of ABM, said that Jones Lang LaSalle, a service provider that set up the ABM contract with Cisco, had to reduce its service scope given a "very challenging" economic climate.
Berman, in a statement on behalf of ABM, said "fully appropriate staffing will be maintained...to ensure that job requirements are fulfilled at high quality standards."
The janitors, along with other service workers from Silicon Valley companies, held a brief strike in May to receive better wages and health care.
Chavez said despite the strike, Cisco's janitors received wages and health care benefits below what janitors at most major Silicon Valley tech companies received.
Berman said that "the entire janitorial team ... is union-represented and fully covered by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that was concluded 10 months ago.
"We will continue to communicate with the union and remain wholly committed to maintaining a constructive dialogue in the mutual best interest of employees and customers alike," he said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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