Striking janitors and their allies face off with L.A. police officers in Century City. SEIU-USWW (Justice for Janitors) Collection, IRLE Archives.
On June 15, 1990, the Justice for Janitors mobilized their largest action to date: a march down Olympic Boulevard in Century City against ISS (International Services Systems). ISS was a Danish-owned cleaning contractor, the largest in the world at the time, and had acquired a Southern California based cleaning company (Doral Industries) and severed existing union contracts. Many of the buildings where they held contracts were based in Century City and they became the focus of the union’s campaign there.
Although the marchers remained peaceful, police officers reacted violently, first forcing protestors into the street and then attacking them with their batons, sending several union members to the hospital. The video below, compiled by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), capturing the violent confrontation was circulated internationally, the widespread outrage eventually resulting in an official inquiry into police officers’ actions by the City of Los Angeles and a settlement between janitors and their employers.
You can watch an eye witness account of the J4J march in Century City here:
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Baker, Bob. “Police Use Force to Block Strike March Labor: About Two Dozen Demonstrators Are Injured during Protest by Janitors in Century City.: [Home Edition].”
Los Angeles Times (Pre-1997 Fulltext) , June 16, 1990, sec. Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk.
http://search.proquest.com/latimes/docview/281089965/CBC4CFD8B6684D0BPQ/14?accountid=14512 .
