University of Miami Justice for Janitors campaign

Prior to the 2006 strike at the University of Miami, UNICCO, now UGL, then a Boston-based company,[1] had already drawn negative attention for some of its business practices.

[6] Formal organization of the University of Miami janitorial workers by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) began in February 2005.

In order to show solidarity with the striking workers, over one hundred University of Miami professors and faculty held classes off campus in venues such as churches, houses, and even a park so as to not interfere with the campaign's picketing.

UNICCO, however, disputed this claim, asserting that SEIU was exaggerating the numbers and that 148 out of the 206 workers had reported for work the previous day.

After a thirteen-hour occupation of the Ashe Administration Building, University of Miami president Donna Shalala agreed to meet with students and workers and SEIU representatives behind the strike.

SEIU, which originally opposed this form of protest because of the health implications involved for those participating, ultimately came to support it and provided nurses at Freedom Village to monitor the safety of those fasting.

The University of Miami custodial strike attracted national attention, including visits by several out-of-town political and labor leaders in support of it, including Southern Christian Leadership Conference president John Edwards, Teamsters president James P. Hoffa, and civil rights leader Charles Steele, Jr.[8] On May 1, 2006, it was announced that UNICCO and the SEIU had reached an agreement that an independent third party, the American Arbitration Association, would determine whether or not a super-majority of UNICCO custodians at the University of Miami wished to unionize.

UNICCO finally agreed to use of a card check vote as opposed to a secret ballot system they had originally sought.

This resulted in setting a minimum wage of $8.00 per hour, the recognition of performance and length of service in pay scales, and the offering of affordable health insurance to university employees.

The actions by these groups mentioned in the resolution included harassing University of Miami students, the disrupting a class taught by Shalala, trespassing on private property, and "vandalizing the back entrance of the Ashe Building with graffiti".