Silicon Vally janitors walk out on strike

SAN FRANCISCO, May 21 (UPI) -- Service Employees International Union janitors walked off their jobs in Silicon Valley, Calif., striking for better pay, union officials said.

Talks between the union and the Bay Area Maintenance Contractors, which represents 15 contractors, ended Thursday, the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday.

A major cleaning contract involving 15 companies ended April 30.

Yahoo! Inc., HP, Cisco and other high-tech companies, have lost their cleaners due to the strike, the Mercury News reported.

The union represents 6,000 janitors.

"This strike is for me, my co-workers, for life and respect," janitors Elsa Guich told the newspaper.

"The company doesn't understand that we work hard. They need to understand," Guich said.