A worker for janitors, guards
In the movie version of his life, Jono Shaffer hopped into a trash cart to evade an anti-union supervisor played by George Lopez. Adrien Brody was earnest Sam Shapiro, the Shaffer character in "Bread and Roses," the man who helped Los Angeles janitors win higher wages and benefits.
"I didn't do those kinds of crazy things," Shaffer says.
But press him and the 47-year-old will share some real-life escapades, like the day in December 1989 when he donned a Santa Claus suit and strolled into the offices of a Century City building manager with a crowd of giggling children in tow. The receptionist was initially thrilled to see him. But when Santa reached into his bag and pulled out rubber gloves for the building's janitors, she called security to remove him.
By 1995, Justice for Janitors, part of a nationwide effort led by the Service Employees International Union, had lifted wages for 7,000 L.A. County cleaners, many of them illegal immigrants, and won them paid vacation time and family health insurance. The janitors' three-week strike in 2000 -- the year the movie came out -- pushed hourly pay to about $12 in downtown L.A.
"A lot of people thought you couldn't organize undocumented workers," says Ruth Milkman, a UCLA professor who directs the Institute of Industrial Relations. "Not only has it been done but it's inspired other immigrant organizing around the country. Jono was clearly a central if not the central organizer of that effort."
The SEIU deputy director is orchestrating another breakthrough, with a new SEIU local representing 4,000 guards who patrol about 700 area office buildings. They join 25,000 SEIU-member guards in seven cities, part of a campaign that Shaffer conceived a decade ago.
The local's goal: To boost pay and benefits for guards to parity with the janitors working in many of the same buildings and for the same contractors.
Despite the victories, and "Bread and Roses," Shaffer doesn't have the star power of some labor leaders, and that's how he wants it. But the apple-cheeked, self-effacing father of two has every bit of the clout.
"In some respects, he's a legend," says David Sickler, senior labor advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Sickler calls Shaffer a "truly gifted organizer" who grooms local talent -- and then ducks out of the limelight.
The janitors' campaign was classic Shaffer.
- Mayor celebrates with newly unionized guards May 21, 2007
- WOODLAND HILLS - 300 Janitors Protest at Warner Center Mar 25, 1995
- Baggage Screeners, Attendants at LAX Vote to Join Union Jul 02, 2000
