“On December 19 they gave us that little Christmas present. They sent us a statement that there was no more work.”
Elba is one of twelve employees who cleaned the Twitter offices in a Chelsea building for years, until, like Maria, they found out that the new year would not bring the expected continuity but uncertainty for the first time since she took the job in 2015.
This time they showed up —despite the rain— on the street in front of their workplace accompanied by dozens of 32BJ SEIU members.
“NOW: Janitors cleaning Twitter HQ from New York to the Bay are rallying outside Twitter HQ in Manhattan to demand answers and get their union jobs back. Essential Janitors are NOT disposable 🔥 Support “, the union 32BJ SEIU wrote in a message on social networks.
NOW: Janitors who clean Twitter HQ from NYC to the BAY are rallying outside @Twitter HQ in Manhattan to demand answers and their union jobs back! Essential janitors are NOT disposable 🔥 Support: https://t.co/cXBIJlbIB2#UnionsForAll #JusticeForJanitors pic.twitter.com/Ersw4kMpP9
— 32BJ SEIU /// #UnionStrong 💪💪🏻💪🏽💪🏿 (@32BJSEIU) January 25, 2023
With more than 175,000 members in 12 states, it is the largest real estate service workers union in the country, representing more than 20,000 commercial office cleaners in all five boroughs.
“They didn’t give us any explanation, only that today was our last day. The whole group didn’t like us because we weren’t expecting that. I have my mother who is very sick and depends on me and I also have medical health problems and we don’t have them,” said María Gómez, another of the fired cleaning employees.
Maria held up a photo of her mom, who was discovered by surgeons to have an inoperable brain tumor during another surgery in August 2021.
Standing up for their rights and echoing the abyss in which the sudden layoff leaves all of these families of workers and their dependents were union members, elected officials and some of the 48 laid off workers from the social media giant’s San Francisco headquarters .
“I’ve been a 32BJ member for 35 years and I’ve seen it all. This is the worst injustice I’ve ever seen,” said Pedro Sainz, a member of the 32BJ SEIU Union.
The request of María, Elba and their colleagues for Elon Musk, the new owner of the company, who did not rule on the layoffs: “give us a new opportunity.”
“That they reconsider their decision a bit because we are people who have our job and who are hard workers and we want to give the best possible for that company,” said Elba Miraval, also a fired cleaning employee.
Another demonstration took place at exactly the same time at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco.
