Rafaela Gómez

In 2008, Houston janitor Rafaela Gómez took the first paid vacation of her life. “It felt great to finally get a vacation after all these years,” says Rafaela.

Rafaela, a mother of four, has always worked hard, with no break to rejuvenate. “I was a dishwasher in restaurants,” she says. “Then I started having pain in my hands from the extreme temperature changes from cold water to scalding hot water.” When Rafaela finally saw a doctor about her condition, the doctor was surprised she had lasted that long in the job.

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Bertha Chacón

Houston janitor Bertha Chacón believes in miracles. “Unbelievable things happen all the time,” she says. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

After the owner of 10000 Memorial, a prestigious Houston office building, decided to replace the building’s responsible cleaning contractor with a company called Professional Janitorial Services, all the janitors lost their jobs.

Now Bertha, a mother of two young children who was among those fired, needs a miracle.

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María González

Houston janitor María González needs a doctor now.

“I feel tingling and numbness in my fingers,” María says. “And I have to go to the bathroom all the time.” While this may not sound like an emergency, María’s health is in danger.

Last year María went to a free clinic for a check-up. She was diagnosed with pre-diabetes, a condition that occurs when blood glucose levels are high, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Many people with pre-diabetes develop diabetes within 10 years. 

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Olga Jaimes

Like other Houstonians, Houston janitor Olga Jaimes wants to be able to work hard, pay the bills and mortgage, save for emergencies and retirement, and try to give her children a better life than she had.

But when Olga stood up for these things, she was fired.

Until November 19, Olga was employed by Pritchard Industries to clean a prestigious office building at 6363 Woodway Drive in Houston. Every day she worked hard to make sure that 22 bathrooms in the building sparkled.

“My husband and I bought a house last year and I took the job to be able to pay the mortgage,” says Olga. “It was hard work but we were both working for our dream.”

 

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Ascención Blanco

Shortly after getting a job with cleaning contractor ABM at America Tower in 2005, Houston janitor Ascención “Conchita” Blanco met a representative of the Service Employees International Union.

Conchita had worked as a maid in private homes until then. “But then I wanted to get out into the world and get to know people,” she says. “The meeting was beautiful. It was at a church.”

Today Conchita is one of SEIU Local 1’s top leaders. It seems she knows just about every commercial office janitor in Houston. “I like to help people. I like to visit the buildings where my coworkers work at night and solve problems. I like to be visible so that the cleaning companies know that I exist.”

 

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Edilberto Ordoñez

When the economy is working right, productivity leads to growth.

But these days the economy is not working right. Although 38-year-old Houston janitor Edilberto Ordoñez is plenty productive, he’s not seeing a lot of growth.

Edilberto needs room to grow—literally. “I share a 1-bedroom apartment with two other people,” he says. “It’s a little tight in there but it’s a lot cheaper than a two-bedroom apartment.”

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Elena Delgado

When companies deny their workers health coverage, everybody suffers. But few have suffered more than Houston janitor Elena Delgado.

In 2006 Elena noticed a boil growing on her lower back. A holder of the Harris County Hospital District’s “Gold Card,” she made a medical appointment and got medicine to treat the boil.

The medication did not work. The boil grew inward, leaving a concave hole in Elena’s back. She sought more treatment. Months would elapse between appointments and she saw a different doctor each time. The boil got infected.

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Maribel Ross

Through the Houston Service Workers Clinic, janitor Maribel Ross gets the medical care she needs. Maribel works for national cleaning contractor ABM cleaning the offices at 1 Allen Center, a skyscraper in downtown Houston.

In 2006, Houston janitors went on strike for good jobs with healthcare. The strike resulted in the creation of the janitors’ clinic, which provides primary healthcare at a cost of just $185 a month to employers and $20 a month to employees. For the first time, Maribel has access to quality affordable healthcare.

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Mary Garza

Houston’s Mary Garza began working as a janitor for national cleaning contractor ABM at Houston’s 36-floor Pennzoil Place in September of 2006. The work was hard and the pay was miserable. 

“We were only paid $5.15 an hour, no benefits,” Mary says. “The manager was strict and we didn’t get any respect. Everybody was scared to speak.”

Mary recalls how one day she and her coworkers celebrated a birthday. “They made us eat our cake in the bathroom,” Mary says. “I will always remember the humiliation we felt.”

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Rosalinda Rocha

In 2006, Houston janitor Rosalinda Rocha turned on the television set. She was amazed at what she saw.

“There was a huge crowd of janitors in purple t-shirts marching through the streets downtown,” Rosalinda says. “The announcer said that they were on strike. I said to myself, I’m a janitor, why am I not on strike?”

Rosalinda, paid just $5.15 an hour, would have liked to stand with her coworkers. What she did not know at the time was that her employer, cleaning contractor PJS, did not recognize the union that Houston janitors had formed throughout the city. All she could do was watch the four-week strike unfold.

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