Justice for Janitors in Los Angeles: Lessons from Three Rounds of Negotiations

We examine an important recent organizing success of the US labour movement: the ‘Justice for Janitors’ campaign in Los Angeles. This campaign has spanned a complete business cycle and shows the union’s capacity for growth over time. It illustrates the potential for unions to overcome pro–employer b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of industrial relations 2002-09, Vol.40 (3), p.543-567
Main Authors: Erickson, Christopher L., Fisk, Catherine L., Milkman, Ruth, Mitchell, Daniel J. B., Wong, Kent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
California
Case studies
Contract negotiations
Janitors
Labor relations
Labor unions
Labour law
Labour relations
Los Angeles
Manual workers
Trade union membership
Trade unions
U.S.A
Wage rates
Workers' movements
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Summary:We examine an important recent organizing success of the US labour movement: the ‘Justice for Janitors’ campaign in Los Angeles. This campaign has spanned a complete business cycle and shows the union’s capacity for growth over time. It illustrates the potential for unions to overcome pro–employer bias of labour laws, as well as their efficacy in appealing to the wider public. It exposes the importance of building coalitions, as well as the value of union analysis of legal, industrial, and political conditions. Our analysis suggests conditions under which unions might survive and thrive in the service sector in the twenty–first century.
ISSN:0007-1080
1467-8543
DOI:10.1111/1467-8543.00246