SEIU: Orange County Janitors Vote Overwhelmingly to Authorize Strike

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Janitors who clean Orange County's high-rise offices, retail
shopping centers including Fashion Island, Irvine Spectrum Center and
other facilities voted today on whether or not to walk off the job.
Today's overwhelming vote authorizing the janitors' bargaining
committee to call a strike if necessary means that janitors
representing more than 2,000 Orange County janitors could call for a
county-wide strike at any time.

"I want to be able to imagine a better life for my daughters, but
right now it's hard to think about the future when I'm struggling to
pay rent and put food on the table," said Ramona Padilla, a janitor
who cleans the Irvine Towers. Ramona has worked as a janitor for 17
years and still earns less than $350 a week.

The Orange County Central Labor Council will announce their
decision to extend a strike sanction at a press conference scheduled
for 11:00 AM on Monday, May 5. With a strike sanction, the county's 80
local unions and 140,000 union members are pledging to honor janitor
picket lines during the upcoming strike.

IRRESPONSIBLE CLEANING CONTRACTORS

Irresponsible cleaning contractors have illegally tried to silence
janitors who are standing up for justice, according to charges that
the janitors' union is preparing to file with the federal labor board
against Able, ABM, One Source DMS and others for intimidating,
interrogating, harassing, threatening and retaliating against workers.

"We're standing up for good jobs so our children will have a
better future," said Ramona Padilla. "We're willing to do whatever it
takes so these companies stop breaking the law."

LOW WAGES, HIGH COST OF HOUSING

Orange County janitors currently earn wages so low that they do
not even account for half of what the Economic Policy Institute says
it takes to meet basic needs for a family of four, or $54,000
annually. A janitor would need to work 112 hours a week to support
their family on the current wages.

Janitors currently earn $8.65 or $18,000 a year, and must pay up
to 89% of their wages on rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Orange
County, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (fair market rates 2008).

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

The strike authorization vote came as Orange County elected
leaders held an emergency meeting to resolve the crisis of poverty
conditions among the area's janitors.

"Janitors make an important and significant contribution to the
success of the commercial real estate industry," stated State
Assemblyman Jose Solorio. "I hope the involved real estate companies
in Orange County do the right thing and help resolve this situation as
soon as possible."

In April, California state legislators called on the state's top
corporations who benefit from the janitor's work to take
responsibility for good jobs for the sake of entire communities as
they released a report, "The High Cost of Low Wage Service Jobs: How
Communities Pay the Price for Poverty Conditions Among Janitors."

Historic Opportunity To Raise Standards, Improve Entire
Communities

California's corporate real estate giants such as The Irvine
Company and others, as well as bio-tech and high-tech corporations who
benefit from the janitor's work, have an historic opportunity now
during contract negotiations for 20,000 of the state's janitors, to
agree to decent wages and family healthcare.

TheIrvineCompanyWatch.com

Justice for Janitors launched a new website this week,
TheIrvineCompanyWatch.com, aimed to highlight the corporate
responsibility of The Irvine Company to ensure good jobs.

For more information about SEIU Justice for Janitors California
Contract Campaign 2008 and to download the report sponsored by the
California State Legislative Latino Caucus, "The High Cost of Low Wage
Service Jobs: How Communities Pay the Price for Poverty Conditions
Among Janitors" visit: www.seiu-usww.org.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1877 is part of
SEIU United Service Workers West, representing more than 40,000
janitors, security officers, airport service workers, and other
property service workers across California. SEIU is the nation's
largest and fastest growing union in North America with more than 1.9
million members.

SEIU
Gina Bowers, 213-926-6993
bowersg@seiulocal1877.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008