HERE Local 11’s campaign at USC began in 1996, when USC began contracting out janitorial and food service work on campus, threatening the good wages and benefits (including mortgage and tuition programs) of dozens of workers. In solidarity with their colleagues from SEIU Local 399 (Justice for Janitors), members of HERE Local 11 refused to sign a new contract until USC stopped contracting work out to non-union companies. USC retaliated by seeking an injunction to prevent union gatherings on campus, prompting both unions to seek out communities allies, including religious leaders from CLUE, and pursue new tactics. These included a fast for justice in May 1999, in which HERE leader Maria Elena Durazo led workers, clergy, and community activists vowed to withhold food until USC negotiated in good faith with their workers. Over 40 people participated in the hunger strike, including labor leaders, elected representatives, and USC students. In an editorial printed in the Los Angeles Times, Durazo compared the fast to those of United Farm Worker leader Cesar Chavez. “How could I ask others to work harder in the labor movement, to take even greater risks for their children and their co-workers, unless I was willing to fast side by side with them?” she wrote in explanation of the fast.

Finally, just before national leaders of the AFL-CIO gathered for their national convention in Los Angeles, USC agreed to sign a new contract with the union and Durazo and the USC workers ended their fast. Pictured here, Durazo celebrates the victory at USC with Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dolores Huerta.

See Maria Elena Durazo, “Fasting to Right Worker Injustices,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1999.

“Union Leader Ends 11-Day Hunger Strike,” Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1999.