Anti-union Houston gets a 5,000 strong janitors union

The janitors who clean Houston's office buildings have the lowest wages and benefits of janitors in any big city in America. The janitors do not receive health insurance or other benefits and nearly the entire workforce is part-time. Janitors are paid an average of $106 a week. Meanwhile, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, average expenses for a Houston-area family with two parents and two children are nearly $500 a week.

I used to work for ABM - they pay their starting custodial workers $5.25 an hour while in other cities they provide health insurance and start at $10 or more. ABM was a target of the union and community leaders and ABM was unionized.

Tags: Houston, union, SEIU