On Friday afternoon, SEIU organizers – clad in trademark purple and yellow – visited Yeshi Jinpa, a 36-year-old janitor and Tibetan refugee, at his Butler Street apartment.
The union has stayed in close contact with Jinpa after organizers first met him on the job at a Downtown office building, where he cleans for the janitorial contractor CleanPower.
Lead organizer Leone Jose Bicchieri depends on sympathizers like Jinpa to spread the message to employees as they continue a long, slow struggle to be recognized at CleanPower.
Jinpa works for the company 15 hours a week to supplement his job as a full- time janitor at UW-Madison. But he likes his job at CleanPower. It’s convenient and close by, but it doesn’t pay as much as his university job.