On June 9, dozens of janitors laid off from Cisco Systems ended a 7-day hunger fast protesting the company’s corporate greed and unfair treatment. Check out this new video we created documenting the breaking of the fast.
Welcome to JusticeatCisco.com! Please explore our site to read more about the situation of more than 75 low-income janitors who were laid-off by Cisco’s contractor ABM- there are janitors’ stories, press clips, and much more!
If you want to show your support for the janitors, Click HERE to email Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers, calling on him to commit to providing good, family-supporting jobs to all of Cisco’s contracted service workers!
Please send an email – it takes just a few minutes, and it can make a big difference! Just Click Here or visit http://seiuaction.org/campaign/justiceatcisco.
Also, please send us your comments and thoughts on the disparity between Cisco treatment of its subcontracted workers, vs. its tech workers and head-honchos like Chambers, who was paid over $11 million last year. Do you think Cisco has acted in the interest of corporate greed? Do you have suggestions on how the company can implement more socially-responsible workforce policies in the future? We’d love to hear from you – just click the “Leave a Comment” button above this post.
VIDEO COMING SOON – STAY TUNED!
Or go to http://www.ktvu.com/index.html to view the KTVU Channel 2 News coverage of the event! Just scroll down to “SAN JOSE: Cisco Systems Janitors Protest Loss of Jobs at Event Honoring CEO” under “Top Stories” window on the rigth side, and click to launch the video player.
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On Tuesday, June 9, a hundred janitors, community supporters, and faith leaders gathered in downtown San Jose, ending their 7-day hunger fast protesting high-tech company Cisco Systems for the layoffs of more than 40 percent of the company’s janitorial workforce.
Religious leaders from the San Jose Interfaith Council on Race, Religion, Economic and Social Justice including Reverend Deborah T. Simon, Rabbi Melanie Aaron of Congregation Shir Hadash, and Father Eddie Samaniego of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church led a “End of the Fast” worship service at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, blessing the participants completing their fasts and distributing ritual challah bread.
Following the service, the janitors and supporters marched two blocks down South Market Street to the Fairmount Hotel, where Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers was being honored with the “Pioneer Business Leader Award” for 2009 at a dinner hosted by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. The janitors marched and chanted loudly outside the Fairmont for nearly an hour, vocalizing their disappointment with the Foundation honoring Chambers as a “corporate leader and philanthropist,” when the layoffs of more than 75 of his company’s low-income janitors have destabilized the community and interfered with the education of the janitors’ children.
“We believe that ultimately, John Chambers is responsible for the layoffs, and it’s up to us to shine light on the fact that he’s not acting as a leader in our community,” said laid-off janitor Aura Martin in an interview with KTVU Channel 2 News.
“I want to tell John Chambers that we have needs, we have families, and they should bring us back to work,” said Juanita Gameros, a laid-off janitor and mother of three young sons. “Since I lost my job in February, it’s been extremely difficult. We don’t have enough money to pay all of our bills, we depend now on one income, which is my husband’s, and we don’t have enough money to buy food, shoes for our children. It is very, very difficult.“
Andrea Dehlendorf, Executive Vice President of SEIU United Service Workers West, the janitors’ union, also appealed to Chambers to help the janitors. “We are calling on CEO Chambers, as a highly regarded philanthropist, to ensure secure, quality jobs for all the workers providing services to his company,” she said. “Our community needs corporate leadership that avoids layoffs at all costs and directs their service contractors to do the same.
The janitors largely dismissed the statement issued by Cisco Public Relations department dodging responsibility for the layoffs and blaming the economic recession. In response to the statement, which said, “we sympathize with financial hardship impacting the former janitorial service employees and the millions of other Americans who have lost jobs… during this downturn in the economy,” Gameros pointed out that “Cisco is a healthy company,” with current cash assets of $34 billion.
Other janitors at the demonstration held signs illustrating the disparity between Chambers’ $11 million CEO pay package and 13,400 square-foot Palo Alto mansion, and the $11/hour average pay and living conditions of the janitors.
The fast and protest of Chambers came as part of a series of mobilizations the janitors have held over the last several months calling on Cisco to direct ABM to reinstate the laid-off janitors and commit to providing decent pay, affordable health care, and family-supporting jobs to all its contracted service workers. The janitors have also launched an online action alert for supporters to email Chambers directly, at http://seiuaction.org/campaign/justiceatcisco.
We’ve added a new, interactive feature to the website - an action where supporters can email Cisco CEO John Chambers, calling on him to live up to his company’s claims of “corporate social responsibility” by directing ABM to reinstate the laid-off janitors, and committing to providing good, family-supporting jobs to all its contracted service workers!
It takes just a few minutes – and it can make a big difference! Just Click Here to send a letter to Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers! Or, visit http://seiuaction.org/campaign/justiceatcisco
As janitors and supporters continue their rolling fast outside of Cisco Systems corporate headquarters in San Jose this weekend, San Jose Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy has written a very thoughtful column about the corporate strategy of treating layoffs as par-for-the-course events that are the cost of doing business in this recession. Cassidy points to the disparity between this blase attitude, and the actual devastation that large-scale layoffs cause for people, families, and communities. He also rightly points to the hypocrisy of corporate executives, such as multimillionaire Cisco CEO John Chambers, who would never consider making cuts to their high-dollar salaries and compensation packages a regular business practice in lean times.
Kudos to Cassidy for questioning the corporate greeed that is rampant in Silicon Valley today.
We estimate that it would cost just a month and half of CEO Chambers’ salary – or a little more than $1 million – to bring back all 75 laid-off janitors to work for the rest of this year. Please stand with us as we demand justice for the janitors at Cisco Systems and stasnd up to all the corporations who are deaf to the kitchen-table concerns of Middle Class Americans today. Please bring a donation or just come by to show your support the fasting janitors outside of Cisco – 300 East Tasman Drive, San Jose, California, 95134.
Beginning today at 1:00pm, dozens of janitors and their supporters from the San Jose community and faith groups are fasting to call on Cisco Systems to revoke the unjust layoffs of nearly half of their subcontracted janitorial staff. Religious leaders including Rev. Bill Leininger, Deacon Steve Herrera, Rev. Gerald Sakamoto, and Rev. Rebecca Kuiken led a “Beginning the Fast” worship service at the shrine of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Santa Clara, California. (Pictures at left and below)
The fast will continue until Tuesday, June 9, when there will be a major protest action in downtown San Jose. Keep checking this website for updates, or bring a donation – food for the families effected by the layoffs, a monetary donation, or plain old solidarity, to the janitors at their protest camp outside of Cisco headquarters, at 300 E. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA.
“My religion teaches me that whenever there is distress which one cannot remove one must fast and pray” – Mahatma Gandhi
Fast participants protest injustice of massive layoffs of low-income janitors
Santa Clara and San Jose, CA – On Wednesday, June 3, janitors, supporters, and religious leaders from the San Jose Interfaith Council on Race, Religion, Economic & Social Justice will gather at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church for a consecration ceremony to launch a week-long hunger fast protesting high-tech company Cisco Systems. In spite of company’s profitability, including more than $34 billion in cash assets and an $11 million CEO pay-package, Cisco’s contractor ABM recently laid off more than 40% of the total janitorial workforce at its headquarters in San Jose.
“The San Jose faith community is participating in this hunger fast to protest the injustice of Cisco Systems laying off so many vulnerable, low-income service workers,” said Reverend Rebecca Kuiken, Director of the Interfaith Council on Race, Religion, Economic & Social Justice. “We have a moral responsibility to support these workers, and to change the hearts and minds of Cisco management.”
Every day during the week of June 3 and June 9, dozens of janitors and community supporters including San Jose faith leaders will fast, drinking only water, outside of Cisco’s corporate headquarters in San Jose. New participants will join the fast each day at 1pm, when a religious leader from the Interfaith Council will conduct a ceremony blessing them.
The fast comes after a series of mobilizations the janitors have held over the last several months calling on Cisco to live up to its claims of “corporate social responsibility” by reinstating the laid-off janitors and committing to providing decent pay, affordable health care, and family-supporting jobs to all of its contracted service workers. These protests have included several mobilizations at Cisco headquarters, an ongoing 24-hour protest camp outside of the headquarters since May 1, a protest at Stanford University, and appeals to Cisco decision-makers, San Jose City Council members, and other elected officials.
“Cisco is a rich company, and they laid us off for no reason,” said Guadalupe Antolin, one of the more than 75 janitors who were laid off. “That is why I’m fasting.”
DETAILS:
• Wednesday, June 3, 12:00pm:
Consecration opening the hunger fast at Our Lady of Peace, 2800 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara, Ca. Following the ceremony, fast participants will proceed to Cisco Systems headquarters, 300 E. Tasman Drive, San Jose, Ca.
• Wednesday, June 3 – Tuesday, June 9:
Daily fast and 24-hour protest camp outside of Cisco Systems headquarters, 300 E. Tasman Drive, San Jose, Ca.
• Thursday, June 4 – Tuesday, June 9, 1:00pm:
Daily blessing from religious leader at protest camp, 300 E. Tasman Drive, San Jose, Ca.
• Tuesday, June 9:
Large, major protest in downtown San Jose. Details TBA.
Janitors Aura Mairena and Guadalupe Antolin inside San Jose City Hall.
On Tuesday, May 26, a delegation of several janitors who were laid off from their jobs at Cisco Systems’ corporate headquarters met with San Jose City Council members to share their stories and appeal for the elected officials to reach out to Cisco decision makers on their behalf. More than 75 vulnerable, low-wage janitors – more than 40% of the total workforce – were laid off by Cisco’s contractor ABM in February, despite the tech company’s enormous profitability and more than $34 billion in cash assets. Since then, the janitors and hundreds of Silicon Valley community supporters have launched a series of escalating mobilizations to urge the corporation to be a responsible corporate citizen and put the janitors back to work.
On Tuesday, the janitors met with staff of City Council members including Madison Nguyen, Ash Kalra, Kansen Chu, and Rose Herrera; and left information for members Nora Campos and Sam Liccardo.
“Today we met with City Council members’ staff to talk about what we are facing as laid off workers at Cisco and ask them to support us by reaching out to the CEO and to the Cisco Board,” said Guadalupe Antolin, a janitor who worked at Cisco for 3 years before being laid off in February. “They were moved by our stories and sympathetic to our situation, and so we are hopeful that with the support of the City Council that we can soon return to work.” Since being laid off, Guadalupe has lost her health care and is now struggling to pay more than $150 per month to get health coverage through COBRA. She is the mother of two children, and is worried about what could happen to them if she was to get sick.
The janitors and their community supporters have vowed to continue to their actions to appeal to Cisco to put the wellbeing of hardworking service workers ahead of corporate profits.
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UPDATE June 1, 2009 – San Jose City Council member Madison Nguyen has sent a letter to Cisco CEO John Chambers. Here is an excerpt:
“As an elected official, I am committed to maintaining San Jose’s developing economy and ensuring that our workers have fair opportunities to sustain their families. I am deeply concerned by the recent janitor layoffs at Cisco Systems because thy have negatively impacted numerous families and communities in San Jose…
To my understanding, while Cisco’s tech workforce has not faced severe layoffs, nearly half of the total janitorial workforce has been let go. The burden of unemployment has been shifted to Cisco’s most vulnerable employees – low-wage service workers who work hard behind the scenes to maintain Cisco’s most basic and essential functions…
I urge you to seize this opportunity for moral and industry leadership by reinstating the janitors….”
Check out the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Tech Chronicles” blog post on the janitors mobilization at Stanford University on Thursday, May 21 – Click Here.
And join us on Thursday to show Cisco that we appreciate their “support [of] the rights of our vendors’ employees to…. voice their concerns,” and plan to exercise it! Let’s tell CEO John Chambers and the rest of Cisco’s Executives to PUT COMMON GOOD AHEAD OF CORPORATE GREED! 
Laid-off Janitors to Protest Cisco Systems Execs at Stanford “Responsible Supply Chain” Conference
2009 May 19
Want to do your part to stand up against Cisco’s corporate greed? Join hundreds of janitors and their supporters on Thursday, May 21, gathering outside of Stanford University’s Bechtel Conference Center to protest the participation of two Cisco Systems executives – Kevin Harrington and Brian Glazebrook – in the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ “Socially Responsible Supply Chain” Conference. The protesters will point out the hypocrisy of Cisco’s claims of “Social Responsibility” amidst the recent layoffs more than 75 janitors at its corporate headquarters in San Jose. By targeting these low-wage workers for layoffs, Cisco has transferred the burden of these families’ wellbeing onto local social service agencies, government, and community groups, creating “a textbook example of irresponsible corporate supply-chain economics,” as Andrea Dehlendorf, SEIU-United Service Workers West (USWW) Executive Vice President, put it.
Last week SEIU-USWW sent a letter to Harrington and Glazebrook pointing out that Cisco cannot credibly claim to be a socially responsible company while it withholds its prosperity – including more than $34 billion in cash assets – from its contracted service workers. The letter called on Cisco to live up to its claims of having a “responsible supply chain” by reinstating the laid-off janitors, beginning a dialogue with SEIU-USWW about raising standards for other contracted service workers in the Silicon Valley, and ensuring that all sub-contractors at Cisco facilities are responsible companies that pay decent wages, provide health care and allow their workers the freedom to form unions. Neither Harrington nor Glazebrook replied to the letter.
WHO: A hundred laid-off janitors and supporters including Stanford University workers and students
WHAT: Protest of Cisco Systems executives’ participation in conference on “socially responsible corporate supply chains”
WHERE: Bechtel Conference Center, Encina Hall, Stanford University, 616 Serra Street, Stanford, Ca.
WHEN: Thursday, May 21, at 12:00pm.