Explore Photos – Memory Work

Grainy black and white photo of a group of young (ish) men and women. IN the center, they hold a banner reading "L.A. Jobs with Peace", Many others in the photo are displaying signs with a large "V" on them (signs also say "Register to Vote here") or making a V sign with their fingers. They are posing outside the entrance of a building. IN the bottom corner, the photo is captioned "Los Angeles organizers during the campaign."

Activists with the 1986 Los Angeles Jobs with Peace campaign hold signs for Proposition V outside the International Ladies Garment Workers union hall on MacArthur Park.

Black and white image appears as a negative, with perforated strips on top and bottom. It depicts a group of workers in an alley outside a garment factory with a visible marquee reading "Dresses." The workers carry signs reading "IBEW joins ILGWU to Keep Americans Working" and "Stop Exporting Jobs". Mariachi musicians play trumpets and violins for the crowd from a stage.

A STOP-WORK PROTEST–A band plays as members of International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union here hold a rally that was part of a nationwide protest against the importation of textiles.

Black and white image appears as a negative with perforated strips on top and bottom. It depicts a large demonstration down a street with a street light and signs reading "Arizona Ave." Marchers carry banners in Spanish. The sign in the front reads "Coalición Pro Leyes y Prácticas Justas de Inmigración." Another, held up high behind it reads " íAmnistia ya! / Abajo Bakke / Comite Nacional In Defensa De José J. Medina" /Asilo Politico Ahora."

Immigrant rights activists march in East Los Angeles, 1977

Black and white image featuring a group of men raise their fists in celebration. The hold a sign in Spanish reading, "Union, Yes!"

Immigrant factory workers cheer their union election victory at American Racing Equipment. The workers had staged a wildcat strike in the summer of 1990.

A group of men raise their fists and make victory signs. Some hold paper checks.

ILGWU organizer Miguel Machuca and Somma waterbed factory workers celebrate back-pay awards ordered by the NLRB after the company fired union activists.

Workers celebrate a union victory outside of a garment factory in Los Angeles, 1980. They stand waving and smiling while holding a sign that indicates that 149 workers voted for the union and 10 against it.

Garment workers affiliated with the ILGWU celebrate an overwhelming victory in their union election at Glydons High Fashion Intimate Apparel, February 1980.

Students read from files drawn from archival boxes

UCLA students examine documents and photographs from the records of UNITE HERE Local 11, the Justice for Janitors campaign, and the LA Alliance for a New Economy, winter 2019.

Students pose with historically themed creations

Labor Studies students pose with art works inspired by their encounter with archival records of Los Angeles labor history.

Black and white image shows a group of Latinx workers gathered around Cesar Chavez, who is kneeling wearing a silken jacket. To his right is Maria Elena Durazo. Everyone is smiling enthusiastically.

Leaders of HERE Local 11 pose with Cesar Chavez, 1993

Lola Patina of the ILGWU addresses workers attending a special class at the union hall, 1940

Black and white image of the interior of a garment shop in downtown LA. The workers, all women, sit at sewing machines, many of which have power cords extending above them to the ceiling. There is lots of surplus fabric around and florescent lights hanging with the cords from the machines. the work stations are numbered. One woman looks over her shoulder and catches the camera's eye.

Black and white image of women garment workers on the picket line. All are wearing overcoats and have pinned and curled hard. Their signs read "Stabilization of the Industry through uniform wage scales" "Our Aim: Abolition of Cut-throat competition," and "DOn't Patronize Non-Union Shops - for Prompt Deliveries order from Union Shops - ILGWU." One woman (Rose Pesotta) faces the camera directly and appears to be speaking.

Rose Pesotta and fellow strikers confront a police officer while picketing in Los Angeles during a strike in the late 1940s.

Slightly blurry color image of workers picketing inside an airport terminal. The men wear signs reading "Respect at LAX - Justice for LAX Workers." The Duty Free store can be seen in the background.

Airport workers protest low wages at Los Angeles International Airport

Black and white image of photo negative of a portrait of Maria Elena Durazo

Hotel union leader Maria Elena Durazo, 1989.

Mayor Tom Bradley speaks to a union audience.

Black and white image of photo negative shows a crowd of workers, some wearing union t-shirts, gathered around a costumed figure in suit. They are wearing a full face mask of an old man with exaggerated features. The janitors laugh as they perform a street speaking skit.

Supporters of the Justice for Janitors campaign join in street theater during a protest against a building service contractor.

In the foreground, Jim Zellers speaks into a microphone while holding a picket sign. In the background, workers stand holding the same picket sign, which reads "L.A. Shoulw Work for Everyone" and features a cartoon strong arm raising a mop into the air.

Los Angeles janitors’ protest

Black and white photo negative of a crowd of workers holding picket signs, which reads "L.A. Shoulw Work for Everyone" and features a cartoon strong arm raising a mop into the air.

Supporters of the Justice for Janitors campaign hold signs that read, “L.A. Should Work for Everyone.” Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection, UCLA Library Special Collections.

Black and white image of photo negative showing Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley addresses the public at city hall. Members of the hotel and janitors unions stand behind him with signs while union officials stand by his side.

Tom Bradley addresses union supporters

Black and white image of a demonstration with many people cheering. They hold signs representing many organizations, including: "Unión = Fuerza" (from CIWA), "Unidos Venceremos" (Jobs With Peace", "Stop Sweatshops" (ILGWU) and "L.A. Should Work for Everyone" (Justice for Janitors).

Union and immigrant rights advocates march in Los Angeles, c. 1992.

Low-resolution black and white image of two smiling people, Miguel Contreras and Maria Elena Durazo, near a Local 11 picket line. Durazo is holding an HERE Local 11 picket sign.

Miguel Contreras and Maria Elena Durazo together on the picket line, 1988.

On the right, Dave Clennon dressed in a full costume, complete with chains and make up, addressing the media as Jacob Marley on his way to address the City Council. Rev. James Lawson holds the microphone for him.

Rev. James Lawson and Dave Clennon portraying a ghostly character from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.

Workers picket the Gas Company building in downtown Los Angeles

Janitors with SEIU Local 399 picket the Gas Company building in downtown Los Angeles, 1987.

a sea of picket signs being held up by workers wearing purple t-shirts. The signs read "The 1% is holding us ALL BACK," "We are all the 99%," "The 1% Takes $9,200 from your Middle Class Family," and Justice for Janitors."

USWW rally on Bruin Plaza at the UCLA campus.

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) leads a march supporting grocery store workers contract negotiations.

A group of workers lifts a large, red, white, and black Justice for Janitors banner up like a parachute at a march.

SEIU Local 399 protest links workers in California and El Salvador.

worker with a handful of pink carnations, hands one to a woman in a business suit leaving an office building.

A Justice for Janitors activist hands a flower to an office worker in honor of Secretary’s Day in 1990.

Janitorial workers, some with their children, gather in a hall decorated with streamers and balloons. Rows of chairs are full with smiling workers. Some have signs on the ends indicating various delegations and shop committees.

Members of the janitors union gather to commit to their new organizing campaign, Justice for Janitors, 1988

stacks of bankers boxes next to large filing cabinets in a basement

The records of USWW/Justice for Janitors in the basement before their donation to UCLA.

A street scene at sunset with a street light and street sign reading "Concourse." In the foreground are dozens of people sitting in the street linking arms engaged in civil disobedience. In the background, police officers are taking pictures and consulting, some riding horses and motor cycles.

Union members & allies stage a mass civil disobedience action

A large demonstration marches under signs for "Arriving Flights" and "Departing flights" at LAX, the airport looming in the background. Many of the marchers are wearing orange safety vests and dropping a piece of yellow caution tape as they march. Hundreds are visible behind them including religious leaders in their garb.

Union members & supporters begin the September 2006 Century Blvd. action

A man holds up a handwritten sign reading "El presente es de lucha - el futuro es nuestro" (the present is struggle, the future is ours) and a blue megaphone. Around his neck hangs another sign reading "I am a Human Being."

UNITE HERE Local 11 action at LAX, 2006

Dozens of people sitting in the street engaged in civil disobedience, many wearing signs reading "I am a Human being/Soy un Ser Humano." In the center of the image is Maria Elena Durazo, hands clasped looking contemplative.

Maria Elena Durazo is one of hundreds risking arrest on Century Blvd., September 2006

Members of Santa Monicans Allied for Responsible Tourism (SMART) demonstrate in favor of a living wage ordinance for hotel workers.

Organizers and members from several unions picket in support of HERE Local 11’s boycott of Canter’s Deli.

Community allies and members of HERE Local 11 announce a boycott of the New Otani Hotel.

Dolores Huerta, Jesse Jackson support USC workers.

Maria Elena Durazo speaks to union members.

Rev. James Lawson and Dave Clennon portraying a ghostly character from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.

Regla Soto and fellow housekeepers march with quilt documenting their workplace injuries.

A Local 11 member points to a meeting agenda

SEIU local 399 leader Jim Zellars marches with Rev. James Lawson. Peter Olney (wearing a tie) is to Zellars’s right.

Exterior shot of the Goodyear plant and its parking lot. On the fence dividing the lot from the sidewalk, there's a banner hanging that reads "En Estados Unidos y en El Salvador Toyota Exploit al Trabajador-Feasies" ("Toyota Exploits the Worker in the U.S. and in El Salvador.")

A protest sign outside a Toyota facility in southern California in solidarity with workers in El Salvador.

A child dressed for Halloween carries a sign reading “Justice for Janitors”

A child beats a drum while workers picket a downtown building.

Black and white image of a person in a turkey costume, holding up a certificate. A woman carries a sign standing in front of of them that reads "Turkey of the Year" with a drawing of a Thanksgiving turkey. An older man in a suit, SEIU Local 399 President George Hardy, carries the same sign.

Justice for Janitors, Turkey of the Year ca. 1989.

Scenes from a street theater performance featuring members of the Justice for Janitors. On the left is a man in a lunch adore costume wielding a mop. He uses the mop to push back against a man on the right in a tie, pantomiming that he is protecting the woman in the middle.

the Justice for Janitors used street theater to dramatize their struggle.

Newspaper clipping from August, 1989 shows a Justice for Janitors march through the lobby of a downtown building. The workers are followed by older men in suits. The caption in the clipping reads "The marchers, led by Henning, Kirland, Robertson, Sweeney and Zellers, pass through the lobby of a non-union skyscraper.

Janitors and union officials march through the lobby of a downtown office building, 1988

Four janitors with big 80s haircuts hold a banner reading "L.A.'s Two Faces - Glamour and Wealth - Poverty and Despair"

Members of SEIU Local 399 hold a sign that reads, “L.A.’s Two Faces: Glamour and Wealth. Poverty and Despair.”

An immigrant studies for the citizenship test with help from the Labor-Immigrant Assistance Project

Supporters of the Justice for Janitors campaign join in street theater during a protest against a building service contractor.

Black and white image shows a group of janitors marching in Century City carrying signs reading "Justicia - Justice for Janitors." One man in the foreground plays a drum with a hairbrush while another directs traffic.

Members of the Justice for Janitors march in Century City in 1989.

A row of police officers in helmets carrying clubs stand in the street, meeting a group of janitors who have fallen to the ground. One officer looks like he's about to hit one of the janitors. Another bellows an order pointing towards the sidewalk. picket signs reading "Service Employees Union" are scattered on the ground.

Riot police confront protesting janitors and allies on a Century City street, June 15, 1990.

Black and white photo shows a woman with a shag haircut wearing a uniform cleaning an office.

Janitor at work

Black and white image shows a man in a white t-shirts cleaning the doors of an office-building elevator.

Janitor at work

Black and white image of a plaza between skyscrapers in Century City. In the center of the frame, one man pantomimes arresting another, who is on his knees with his arms behind his back. A group of people surrounding them watching on, some sitting on the steps close by.

Janitors prepare for civil disobedience actions in Century City, 1990

A young woman in a Justice for Janitors' t-shirt speaks to a TV reporter holding an ECO microphone, while a camera man films her.

Justice for Janitors organizer Rocio Sáenz speaks to a television news crew, ca. 1995

Three older janitors in various red union t-shirts smile for the photographer.

Jose Garcia, Rosa Beltran, and Manuela Ramos, photographed in 2011.

A colorful crowd of marchers, many in red Justice for Janitors t-shirts, gather for a march. In the foreground of the image (left to right) are Antonio Villaraigosa and another man in dark suits; Cardinal Roger Mahony in his regalia carrying a golden staff, Mike Garcia (president of SEIU 1877) in shirtsleeves, and Miguel Contreras, president of the LA Federation of Labor in a grey suit. Behind the Cardinal, a janitor carries a mop, its angle and height matching the Cardinal's staff.

Religious, political, and labor movement leaders join the janitors during their 2000 strike.

Three women in an ornate library where rare books are stored in glass cases. one of them looks at documents while the other appears to be speaking.

Union janitors share stories prompted by viewing records of the Justice for Janitors campaign.

A row of police officers in helmets carrying clubs stand in the street confronting a group of janitors. Some are sitting in the street while others are standing carrying signs reading "ISS On Strike" and "Service Employees Union." The officers seem ready to make arrests and a school bus is parked in the street awaits them.

Riot police confront protesting janitors and allies on a Century City street, June 15, 1990.

A young man in a red Justice for Janitors t-shirt and a red scarf wrapped tightly around his neck addresses a police officer wearing riot gear.

Jono Shaffer, 1990

Black and white photograph appears to be a clipping from a newspaper and/or flyer. It shows a rally with workers carrying "ISS Unfair" signs. A woman stands in front of a large banner that reads "Janitors Deserve Justice" and speaks into a megaphone. A man next to her wearing a silk bomber jacket holds the megaphone. Two older man also appear in the frame, one wearing a badge with a ribbon.

An early Local 399 protest against ISS.

Workers huddle up before an action, some wearing union t-shirts. Several carry signs in the shape of a cross with messages including "ISS Obey the Law," "No More Poverty Wages," and "Poverty Century City."

March versus ISS, Century City 1990.

Members of SEIU local 399, CIWA, the ILGWU, and other organizations march in the wake of the 1992 civil unrest.

Members of SEIU local 399 prepare for acts of civil disobedience around the time of the strike at Century City, 1990.

UCLA Labor Center director Kent Wong joins union supporters during the April 1995 janitors’ strike.

SEIU USWW leader Mike Garcia speaks at a panel on Justice for Janitors on the UCLA campus.