Some 1,700 janitors, members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are on strike for a union contract, decent pay, and medical benefits, against the city’s five largest cleaning companies: ABM, OneSource, GCA, Sanitors, and Pritchard. The average wage here is $5.30 per hour for a 20-hour-a-week part-time job; in Chicago, janitors for the same companies make $13.80 for a full-time position with health insurance, according to the SEIU.

On October 25, about 30 janitors who walked off their job as cleaners for Thomas Properties’ San Felipe Chase were threatened by Federico Meléndez, an ABM supervisor. Strikers say Meléndez followed them to a waiting bus before assaulting a union organizer.

“He was trying to force his way onto the bus, and the organizer told him no,” said striker Mercedes Herrera, quoted in a union press release. “She tried to block him. But he became even angrier and he pushed her down. He started hitting her and then dragged her out of the bus by her hair.”

—Steve Warshell  
 
Teachers in Greece return to work,
continue fight for raise
ATHENS, Greece—After a six-week national strike, primary school teachers returned to work October 30, pledging to stage one-day strikes until the government meets their demands. The teachers are fighting for a 45 percent raise in their basic pay from 950 euros to 1,400 euros a month, increased government funding to public education, and other demands.

The public servants’ union joined the teachers in the first of two planned 24-hour strikes November 3. Some 9,000 strikers, secondary school teachers, students, and university professors rallied in Athens to support the primary school teachers and oppose government plans to open up the education system to privatization.

High school and junior high students across the country walked out of school during the fifth week of the teachers’ strike. Over 1,000 schools were occupied by students in a show of solidarity with the teachers, and to demand less onerous university entrance requirements. Hundreds of high schools and 75 universities remained occupied as of November 4.

The elementary school teachers’ union DOE has called another 24-hour strike for November 9.

—Georges Mehrabian  
 
Massachusetts nurses strike
against take-back demands
WORCESTER, Massachusetts—A five-hour strike by 830 nurses at the University of Massachusetts forced hospital management to back down from previous take-back demands. On October 26, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association walked out at 6:00 a.m. Management was demanding cuts in health benefits, pensions, and pay.

The day before several hundred U-Mass nurses rallied along with hospital workers from across the state, as well as representatives from the Teamsters, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Communications Workers of America, Firefighters, and other unions.

“The main thing this is about is respect,” said Mike Michalik, a nurse with 16 years at the hospital. “When you can barely take care of the patients you have, they add more. Now they want to cut our pay by 20 percent.”

The nurses returned to work at 11:00 a.m., five hours after the walkout began, with a tentative agreement for a three-year contract. According to the union, hospital management dropped most of its concession demands.

—Betsy Farley and Sarah Ullman  
 
 
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