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   Vol.64/No.20            May 22, 2000 
 
 
San Diego janitors approve contract
 
BY MARK FRIEDMAN  
LOS ANGELES--After waging a one-month strike, 275 janitors in San Diego, organized by Service Employees International Union Local 2028 approved a new contract.

Boosted by the Los Angles janitors' walkout, the San Diego workers organized demonstrations, and some held a 10-day fast. The janitors earned about $7 an hour; the new contract will give them increases of 50 cents for the first year and 40 cents for the second. In the third year the companies would contribute $171 a month to health insurance, providing service both in Mexico and the United States.

Hunger striker Ignacio Quiñones said, "This shows that when workers are united, no force is more powerful."

Meanwhile, hundreds of government-paid home-care workers marched through downtown Los Angeles demanding an hourly raise of $1.25 and health insurance. Currently the 72,000 home-care workers earn $6.25 an hour in a program funded by the federal, state and county governments. They organized into SEIU Local 43B last year after a 20-year organizing drive.

Mark Friedman is a member of the International Association of Machinists.  
 
 
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