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Janitors protested outside of Albertsons grocery stores in four major Southern California cities yesterday against the use of hazardous chemical cleaning supplies. Taking place in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Ana, San Diego and Santa Barbara, workers demonstrating with Justice for Janitors questioned the safety of cleaning chemicals provided to them by the company in order to carry out their job responsibilities. The Janitors, who clean Albertsons stores in addition to other supermarket chains, claim that working conditions are also unsafe for them due to a lack of training and safety equipment provided. The protesters at yesterday’s rallies also pointed out that toxic chemicals used to clean the grocery stores may also pose a potential danger to consumers. Coming at a time when contract negotiations between the supermarket chain and the janitors have stalled, the issue of health care was also among the stated demands. The protesters claim that despite Albertsons yielding recession-proof profits, the company nevertheless is seeking to further shift the burden of health care costs onto the workers.

GUEST: Mike Chavez, spokesperson with SEIU Local 1877, Aldolfo Gamez, lead organizer of Supermarket Workers Campaign.

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