The blockade angered lunch hour motorists when the intersection at Oakland Road and Montague was clsed and traffic was diverted. California Highway Patrol officers, dressed in riot gear and armed with batons, arrested 15 protesters who sat in the middle of the four-lane boulevard. Demonstrators were later booked into Santa Clara County Jail and charged with misdemeanors for obstructing a public street and refusing to disperse. The janitors and the Service Employees International Union, which has 6,000 members in Silicon Valley, said the protest was aimed at two companies - Solectron Corp., a Milpitas circuit board manufacturer, and Oracle Corp., a Redwood City software maker.
Protesters claim janitors are paid low wages, get no medical benefits and are treated poorly.
Officials at both companies said the union's beef should be with the contractor. Phil Wilson, Oracle's vice president of human resources, said he is concerned about the allegations even though he isn't in charge of hiring janitors. We have conducted our own investigations into the allegations and have found that such allegations have no basis in fact. Roland Phillips, co-owner of Service by Medallion, claimed none of the protesters were janitors hired by his company. He said the protesters were paid SEIU members.