My name is Maria Isabel Grijalva. I work for Sodexo as a custodian at Whittier College in California.

At the college, we clean everything in the building, from the showers and toilets, to the bedrooms, porches and windows. What I like most about my job is the students. They give me cards and thank me for the work I do. But our supervisors don't treat us with respect at all.

One thing we didn't like was that our supervisors told us we could not take our breaks in the student areas. The only non-student area available to us was a small closet with chemicals and a sink where we cleaned the mops so we had to take our breaks in there. The lunch room that they provided for us was also terrible. It was infested with rats. There was rat droppings, rat poison, and it smelled terrible.

Last fall we wrote a petition to our supervisors asking for a decent and safe place to take our breaks and eat our lunch. Twenty-three of us signed the petition. They were not happy, but we got some big changes. The company cleaned out the rat poison and patched the holes in the walls where the rats were getting in. They installed air conditioning and tables and chairs that were in better condition.

We have also had a lot of problems with custodians getting injured on the job. We don't feel our employer treats the injuries seriously. Just last month, one of my co-workers, Maria Galindo fell while cleaning the ceiling above a shower. She cut her head and was bleeding. When she reported to our supervisors she was told to go home. At home her head wound continued to bleed. The next day she called and left a message asking that the company send her to a doctor. They didn't call her back until the next day. And she was told, "Why should we pay for something that you can do at home?"

Finally, her son drove her to the Whittier College office and she was given a written consent to see a doctor. When she saw the doctor he asked why she had not come in right after the accident happened.

We are also concerned about the chemicals that we have to use. Some of them are very harsh like "QC 91 Acid Bathroom Cleaner." When I use this chemical it makes me cough and makes my eyes water. We've heard that Sodexo has stopped using this chemical at another location, but we still have to use it. They are at least supposed to have eye wash stations in case we get chemicals in our eyes, but there are only two on campus and if I needed to get to them from where I am cleaning I would have to walk almost half a block to get there.

We believe that we have to stand up for better conditions. Last September we came together and started to organize to hold Sodexo accountable. We want to form a union so that we can have a contract that guarantees safer conditions, better wages, and affordable healthcare coverage.