Janitors seek support

Hundreds of janitors from across Orange County seeking higher wages, better health care and affordable housing paraded past Irvine Co.-owned buildings in Newport Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Chanting “Sí, se puede” and beating on drums fashioned out of office water cooler jugs and coffee tins with hunks of plywood, janitorial workers from the Service Employees International Union marched around Fashion Island and blocked traffic in Newport Center.

“I can’t afford anything on what I make, it’s like nothing,” said union member Sara Barriga, as she marched down Newport Center Drive wearing a purple union T-shirt bearing a picture of a broom.

Barriga has worked as a cleaning woman at an Anaheim office building for eight years, but said she and her family of five cannot afford rent in Orange County and have to live with her sister in a crowded apartment. Barriga’s husband cannot work because of a back injury, she said.

Contracts covering more than 16,000 janitorial workers expired this week, and union workers will vote Saturday on whether to go on strike.

With prices for gas and groceries rising steadily, most janitorial workers in Orange County cannot continue to support their families on low wages, said union organizer Silvia Hernandez.

“We want to have a better life for our families,” Hernandez said. “Hopefully we can get a better contract so we can send our children to college. We all want our children to get an education.”

The average annual income for janitorial workers in Orange County is $18,000, and some janitorial workers earn as little as $8.65 an hour, according to union organizers. Organizers declined to discuss specific labor negotiations Wednesday, but said they were seeking better wages.

A few local pastors walked in support of the workers, including the Rev. Martha Korienek of Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Parish Church in Corona del Mar.

“It’s important that we recognize that there are people in Orange County that are struggling to make ends meet,” Korienek said. “It’s a social justice issue.”

Most of the janitors work for private cleaning contractors that have contracts with large companies like the Irvine Co., union organizer Ernesto Guerrero said. The workers hope to gain support from the Irvine Co. during contract negotiations, he said.

“We know the Irvine Co. is a big player,” Guerrero said. “These people want better wages because they can barely fill up their gas tanks on what they make now.”

Irvine Co. officials said Wednesday that while the company has contracts with cleaning companies that are in labor negotiations, the Irvine Co. is not involved in the talks.

“We are not a part of any negotiations,” said Bill Rams, a spokesman for the Irvine Co. “This is a dispute between the janitor’s union and the janitorial service companies. We encourage both sides to continue to negotiate the issue.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.