The IRLE’s collaboration with SEIU United Service Workers West (USWW) began in 2010, which marked the 20 year anniversary of their campaign in Century City. After nearly two years of planning meetings, archival collecting, oral history interviews, focus groups, and events, the archive assembled was officially donated to the UCLA Library in April 2012, enabling future generations of students, scholars, and community members to access the union’s rich history for years to come.

To commemorate the donation, as well as the storied history of the Justice for Janitors in Los Angeles, the IRLE and SEIU-USWW convened a panel discussion at UCLA Library Special Collections. Speakers included Kent Wong, Director of the UCLA Labor Center, as well as Rosa Ayala, Jono Shaffer, and Aida Cardenas, leaders of the Justice for Janitors campaign in L.A. and Mike Garcia, President of SEIU-USWW.

After the panel, a ceremony was held in the UCLA Faculty Center marking the transfer of the Justice for Janitors Archive from SEIU United Service Workers West to UCLA. Speakers at the jubilant ceremony included University Librarian Gary E. Strong, as well as labor leaders Eugenio Barrera, Maria Elena Durazo, Jerome Horton, and Mike Garcia; public officials Richard Alarcon, Zev Yaroslavsky, and Kevin DeLeon; and Project Director Gaspar Rivera Salgado, the progenitor of the IRLE’s Justice for Janitors Project. The ceremony ended with a rousing performance by Los Jornaleros del Norte with Jono Shaffer — watch it all here.