Sleazy Union Gets Owned by a Janitor Unwilling to Back Down: Jury Awards $5.3 Million

He thought he’d ruined the floor.

Brent Southwell graduated with an accounting degree and was working at the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen when he bumped into a friend from college. His friend had started his own janitorial service in Austin, Texas, and Brent realized he’d always wanted to own his own company.

He and three friends each plopped down a whopping $750 per person to start a cleaning company. Brent, the only partner in Houston, had a lot to learn. He hired five employees, who — along with his business partners — showed him how to make businesses shine.

“I’d get a new building and they’d come help me. I learned how to strip and wax the floors over the phone,” he said. “I thought I ruined the floor the first time I did. When you strip the wax off a vinyl floor, it changes color. Then when you put the wax back, the color comes back. But I didn’t know that.”

Their business grew to being the sixth largest janitorial contractor in Houston, but in 2006 they ran across a union group Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

SEIU had managed to secure collective bargaining rights for five large janitorial companies in Houston, but the union wouldn’t agree to a secret ballot election. The “Guide to the Houston Political Journal” explained why. “Because statistics show that secret ballot elections, where employees are free to vote their conscience without fear or intimidation or reprisal, are rarely, if ever successful. Collecting signatures via union cards is much easier as cards can be obtained fraudulently and forged easily. So the stage is set, PJS says no ballot, no election, and the SEIU decides to make an example of them for the market to see.”

ENJOY THIS ARTICLE ON BREITBART HERE.