Local Janitors to Team With Mexican Union

Leaders of a local janitors union will sign a formal partnership with Mexican union leaders Tuesday, a move that reflects the growing level of international cooperation in the labor movement. “With the advancement of globalization, and the wealth shifting into fewer hands, it’s good to have those alliances,” said Mike Garcia, president of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, which represents 22,000 California janitors and other service workers. The majority are Spanish-speaking immigrants, Garcia said. He will sign the partnership in Los Angeles with Francisco Hernandez Juarez, a top official of Mexico’s fast-growing Telephone Workers Union, which also represents a large number of janitors. The two unions cooperated three years ago in a campaign to organize janitors at Hewlett-Packard Co.