Local Union Member Stands In For America's Laid-Off Workers

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

"From the Panera bakery in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, Carlita Guzman can gaze across the street at Lee Plaza, the 10-storey art deco building where she used to clean office suites every evening," wrote James Politi in the July 2 edition of The Financial Times. Guzman, an SEIU 32BJ member, has been out of work since early April, "after the building's owner selected a new contractor to provide janitorial services," The Times article continues. "Although the position was only part-time, it paid relatively well - $10.50 an hour - and offered benefits such as prescription drug coverage. The income was crucial to her family's balance sheet, since her husband's occasional work as an electrician is not a reliable source of cash. The couple have three children to support, as well as a $1,450 per month mortgage payment for their home in nearby Hyattsville." Politi's report details how the "Jobless pay price for Washington's legislative stalemate" as attempts to extend jobless benefits are stymied by Republicans in Congress. Click here for the complete Financial Times report (available with free registration) and here for Union City's report on SEIU 32BJ's ongoing campaign to expose how Lee Development Group's Cleaning Contractor is breaking the law.