By David Moisl

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a formal complaint against Team Services, a janitorial company employed by Yahoo!.

After a several-month investigation, the NLRB concluded the Silicon Valley-based cleaning company engaged in unfair labor practices in trying to stop the unionization of its employees. The list of charges takes up four pages and includes everything from harassment and intimidation to threats and pay cuts. The situation culminated in the company's the termination of Ricardo Olguin because of his unionization efforts. Olguin said he and some colleagues decided to organize a union in response to the appalling work conditions. "There was a lot of abuse of the workers and we were getting overloaded with work, so we decided amongst ourselves that we were going to organize a union," Olguin said.

While there is nationwide agitation about the poor working conditions of janitors, this case is of special importance for janitors in northern California. In spring 2003 the union's master contract runs out, leaving 30,000 janitors to negotiate their new agreement. "We want the negotiations to be more about the quality of service than about wages," Local 1877 spokesperson Beth Trimarco said.

Though the NLRB issues a complaint in about 4 percent of all cases, its Nov. 26 decision is only the first step in a long legal process. Now Team Services must reinstate Olguin and give him back pay if it wants to avoid a legal hearing. If the company doesn't comply, the case will go before an NLRB administrative judge April 8, 2003.

Ann L. Butler, attorney for Team Services, could not be reached for comment by press time.

On Dec. 12, 200 janitors and community members picketed at the Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale for Olguin's reinstatement. The Service Employees International Union Local 1877 has focused its campaign on Yahoo! because it is the biggest name among the high-tech firms that use nonunion cleaning services. Currently, about 70 percent of all commercial buildings in Silicon Valley are cleaned by union janitors.

SEIU was hoping that Yahoo! would consider switching to a unionized cleaning company. Under the Janitorial Displacement Act, janitors who are employed on a specific site through a contractor will stay with that site and change employers when the contract goes to a different company. A Yahoo! spokesperson told us in October that Yahoo! "has been assured by Team Services that they will comply with the established legal procedures if their employees want to make the choice to have union representation." But Yahoo! spokesperson Michael Lynam's most recent response was: "At this time, Yahoo! continues to work with Team Services, Inc., as its janitorial contractor."

Under the union contract, janitors still get only $10 an hour (plus benefits). Team Services pay starts at $6.50 an hour.

"Yahoo's position could seriously jeopardize these negotiations and drive wages even further down," Trimarco said.