Image Gallery Click on any image to expand. You might also like to browse our library of videos hosted on Vimeo. See the Research page for links to related content. “How the City of Los Angeles Subsidizes Poverty and How the Taxpayers End Up Paying for It” (c. 1996)LA County Federation of Labor celebrates the victories of the Justice for Janitors campaign.Informational flyer from SEIU local 399 protesting Bradford Building Services’ firing of union members.Mayor Tom Bradley speaks to a union audience.Supporters of the Justice for Janitors campaign join in street theater during a protest against a building service contractor.Los Angeles janitors’ protestSupporters 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.Union and immigrant rights advocates march in Los Angeles, c. 1992.Miguel Contreras and Maria Elena Durazo together on the picket line, 1988.A hand-made etching depicts a march of service workers. This tiny work of art (about 1 inch square) is part of the UNITE HERE Local 11 records.Immigrant rights advocates protested the close relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 1990.Supporters of the Raise LA coalition watch as the LA city council votes for a new, higher minimum wage for large hotels.In the years before the Justice for Janitors campaign launched, SEIU Local 399 struggled to regain lost ground in downtown Los Angeles. The 1987 campaign at the Southern California Gas Company was not successful, but led the union to experiment with appealing to recent immigrants who were a growing sector of the workforce. Janitors, airport workers, and security guards rally on the UCLA campus before marching through the Westwood neighborhood in support of their 2012 contract campaign.Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) leads a march supporting grocery store workers contract negotiationsLocal 399 protest links workers in California and El SalvadorPamphlet featuring the “Mopman,” a superhero championing the cause of janitors.The cartoon superhero Mop Man explains workers’ rights in relation to identification, and provides contact information for National Immigration Law Center.A Justice for Janitors activist hands a flower to an office worker.AFL-CIO pamphlet on IRCAJustice for Janitors flyer from 1989 naming Security Pacific Bank as the “Turkey of the Year”Head of the SEIU John Sweeney brought national attention to the kick off of the Los Angeles janitors campaign.Justice for Janitors pamphlet announcing a return march to Century City.Justice for Janitors pamphlet announcing a return march to Century City.The future is ours! UNITE HERE staged a massive civil disobedience action in support of hotel workers along the Century Blvd. corridor in 2006.Each panel of the Housekeepers’ Quilt documents one workers’ story.Congressman John Lewis addresses members of the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride.During the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride (2003) activists stopped in Memphis to visit to site of Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination, now a civil rights museum.Crosses with names of those who died crossing the border piled before an alter during the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride, 2003Jono Shaffer and Rocio Saenz, organizers with the Justice for Janitors campaign, march with Local 11 in support of the Canter’s Deli boycott. 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 speaks with the actor dressed as the “Ghost of Christmas Past” to highlight workers determination to improve their living conditions.University of Southern California workers appeal to students, faculty, and community members to support their effort to retain jobs.La Opinion reports on janitors’ preparation for a 1990 strikeA Justice for Janitors newsletter from 1990 shows union members preparing for civil disobedience.In the 1980s, new types of business relationships disrupted the labor relations system. In this newsletter, SEIU Local 399 reports that a court has declared a contractor and building owners “joint employer” clearing the way for organizing.The Danish-owned multinational corporation International Service Systems (ISS) was the money behind many local cleaning contractors. Here the Local 399 reports on it’s legal case against ISS.SEIU local 399 leader Jim Zellars marches with Rev. James Lawson. Peter Olney (wearing a tie) is to Zellars’s right.A protest sign outside a Toyota facility in southern California in solidarity with workers in El Salvador.County Federation of Labor newsletter reports on successful 1990 strike against ISS in Century CityA child dressed for Halloween carries a sign reading “Justice for Janitors” A child beats a drum while workers picket a downtown building.A Spanish-language flyer offers a timeline of Justice for Janitors actions.the Justice for Janitors used street theater to dramatize their struggle.During the official launch of the Justice for Janitors campaign in Los Angeles, union members and national leaders march through a downtown building. Lane Kirkland (AFL-CIO) and John Sweeney (SEIU) are pictured.Members of SEIU Local 399 hold a sign that reads, “L.A.’s Two Faces: Glamour and Wealth. Poverty and Despair.”Following the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the L.A. County Federation of Labor supported a program of assistance to undocumented immigrants seeking legal permanent residency in the U.S.Organizing sticker features the distinctive upstretched fist holding a broom before the image of a modern office building.A Spanish-language flyer offers a timeline of Justice for Janitors actions.Superhero-janitor “Mopman” says “the union is fighting to win good health insurance for all workers and their families.”Protesting janitors laugh at one of their fellow activists who is dressed as a parody of a “boss.”Riot police confront protesting janitors and allies on a Century City street, 1990.For organizing and publicity, Local 399 gathered photos of members at work.A janitor polished the doorway of an elevator. Local 399 gathered images of members at work. Following the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, the LA County Federation of Labor sponsored a program to help immigrants regularize their status.Janitors prepare for civil disobedience actions in Century City, 1990Local 399 organizer Rocio Saenz speaks with the press, c. 1995The AFL-CIO union federation informs members about the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.Rosa Beltran (right) and Mauela Ramos (center) in 2011.Religious, political, and labor movement leaders join the janitors during their 2000 strike.Members of United Service Workers West pay a visit to the UCLA Special Collections Department to view items from the records of the Justice for Janitors campaign.Striking janitors and their allies face off with L.A. police officers in Century City. Local 399 reports to members on the confrontation with police in Century City, June 1990.SEIU organizer Jono Shaffer attempts to diffuse the situation, June 1990An early Local 399 protest against ISS.Justice for Janitors declares strikes at two ISS-cleaned buildings in Century City.A march of union members in 1990 features religious iconographyLocal 399 pamphlet from 1990 aims to explain janitors’ plight to office workers.Voice of Local 399 reports on the union’s victory in the ISS/Century City campaign, July 1990This image of LA police officers beating a striking a protester became a symbol of the janitors’ organizing drive.This pledge calls for building tenants to ask Century City building owners and managers to cooperate with Justice for Janitors and agree that the tenant’s name be used as a supporter.Local 399 member holds protest sign reading, “JMB & ISS equals poverty for janitors.”Janitors rally on the UCLA campus before marching through Westwood during a contract campaign.Workers march in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles 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.La Opinion reports on striking janitors, October 1990SEIU USWW leader Mike Garcia speaks at a panel on Justice for Janitors on the UCLA campus.Janitors prepare for civil disobedience in Century City