DETROIT FREE PRESS: Janitors keep workplaces clean, safe. Include when planning to reopen Michigan| Opinion

Op-ed by Local 1 Janitor Pamela Owens-Moore in the Detroit Free Press

I remember years ago, before Detroit’s resurgence, when people were scared to go downtown because they didn’t think it was safe. Yet janitors like me still left our homes day after day to clean our buildings and keep our city sparkling. Now, as downtown Detroit is coming back, our city faces yet another crisis. And janitors are here again on the front lines keeping people healthy while many people are able to work from home.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and the implementation of safer-at home orders across the country, we have been hearing the term “essential workers” a lot. Working people, such as those of us who work in healthcare, grocery stores, airports, security and janitorial industries, continue to leave our homes every day to keep our cities clean, safe and functioning. As janitors, we appreciate that everyone is recognizing us as important during this crisis because we know that we have always been essential. But essential should not mean sacrificial.

Janitors have always played a vital role in upholding public safety, cleaning up behind downtown’s resurgence, sanitizing schools so that our children have a safe learning environment and disinfecting every area of our airports. During this pandemic, my coworkers in our hospitals have been the first ones in rooms that have been shut down due to coronavirus exposure, cleaning up bodily fluids and wiping down surfaces. Even with masks and gloves, it’s been a constant struggle balancing working to ensure the safety of others and keeping our own families protected from what we may be carrying when we return home at the end of the day. 

I always say that janitors may take out the garbage, but we are not anyone’s trash. In my 33 years as a janitor, I have worked through many things, including the H1N1 pandemic and Ebola outbreaks, that have equipped me with the knowledge and experience that I need to face times such as this. People are finally starting to see and appreciate the work that we do. That’s great, but now more than ever, we need to take that gratitude further and turn it into real solutions for real Detroiters.

We need our local government to include our voice in the conversations around reopening our city. Not only will janitors be the ones responsible for adhering to stricter cleaning and safety standards, but we have expertise and ideas to contribute when new protocols are being developed and decided on. We also need our federal government to support working people by protecting our pay and benefits so that we can continue to provide for our families without having to rely on an already overwhelmed unemployment system. Ensure that we have the PPE we need to protect ourselves and essential pay to compensate for the work that we do.

It is simply not enough to thank the hard working people who have played such a crucial role during these trying times. It is time that our elected leaders show their commitment to essential workers by prioritizing the protection of our livelihoods and including us in the plan for how we emerge from this crisis.

Pamela Owens-Moore, a mother and grandmother, has worked as a janitor in Detroit for 33 years. She is an executive board member of SEIU Local 1.