Despite a ten-year effort by labor groups to create awareness about the deplorable conditions Los Angeles janitors face, workplace violations continue. Janitors are denied overtime pay, classified improperly as independent contractors, locked in the stores overnight and forced to work their first two weeks unpaid, based on dozens of interviews and numerous lawsuits and government enforcement actions.
See "Among Janitors, Labor Violations Go With the Job", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, July 12, 2005