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HOUSTON (AP) -- Striking janitors demanding higher wages and better insurance benefits staged a sit-in at one of the city's busiest intersections.
About 150 members of the Service Employees International Union disrupted traffic in Houston's upscale Galleria shopping district for about 90 minutes Thursday. A dozen community activists who joined the protest chained themselves to metal garbage cans and sat in the middle of the street. They were arrested and charged with obstructing a pathway.
More than 1,700 janitors have been on strike since Oct. 23, when talks broke down with several of the city's commercial cleaning companies. The strike has targeted about 60 buildings in the city's downtown and shopping district. Workers want a pay increase to $8.50 an hour, up from the current average of $5.30, plus more guaranteed hours of work and medical insurance.
Dozens of protesters linked arms and formed a human chain to stop cars from passing through the intersection during the demonstration.
Protesters waved picket signs, beat drums and chanted upbeat slogans of ''Si se puede'' (Yes, we can) and ''Aqui estamos, no nos vamos'' (Here we are, and we're not leaving).
The rally rankled many drivers trapped in traffic, including a few who tried to bulldoze their way through the demonstrators. Others shrugged at the unexpected delay and said they supported the strikers.
SIRATYST (Stuff I Read and Thought You Should Too) -- “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.” (Calgacus, as quoted by Tacitus, Agricola 30-31)"
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