image owned by The New York Times

In the Los Angeles Times, there was an article on the janitor strike in Century City. The companies in the Century Plaza Towers decided to lay off 16 janitors because they felt the need to cut costs. Usually when companies begin to lay off employees due to the economy or any other valid reason, they start at the lowest paying jobs. The reason for this in my opinion is that they need the people they pay the most to generate revenue for the company and the extra help they get they don’t always need. They probably ended up keeping a few janitors or hiring new ones with lower pay. This is a logical thing for a company to do when struggling financially.

The article goes on to say that the protesters began to attack JP Morgan Chase since they own the building. Their beef should not be with the bank because they don’t run the companies. These are private companies that have their human resources department. Chase just owns the buildings and collects rent and utilities from these various companies.

The frustration of the fired employees is completely understandable because everyone wants to support themselves and their families. However, tough times call for tough measures and we may not agree or feel that it was fair to be laid off but these companies have to cut somewhere and if you have a job that they don’t necessarily need, then why not cut you? It’s like a couple who lost their job and has to let go of the house-cleaner or the gardener. Can you imagine how the house-cleaner would feel if she had to lose a paycheck that she either depended on or needed?

If they feel they were let go unjustly or unfairly then they should file a class action lawsuit against each company. In my opinion, they may lose the lawsuit because their argument is not strong. These companies didn’t fire them because they felt like it they fired them because they needed to save some money and couldn’t afford to have them anymore. The meat of the company are those that are paid the most. Anyone would be scared of losing a job. That is half of America’s fear in this economy but maybe they should just accept it and move on.