On April 21, I went to Miami to join a water-only "Fast for Justice" being waged by several of the janitors. Many hadn't eaten in over two weeks and were living in "Freedom City," the makeshift tent city these courageous workers have set up across the street from the University.

It was a life-changing experience to fast for 36 hours and get to know hard-working people willing to risk everything, including their health, to win the power to control their own future. The strike by these workers is another profound statement by immigrants this year about their commitment to take action--and risks--to secure a better future in this country.

The janitors' employer UNICCO is one of the worst employers in the country when it comes to the treatment of workers. A few days ago, UNICCO was named by a watchdog group as one of the "Dirty Dozen" worst health and safety violators in the country. Seven workers have died from job-related injuries working for UNICCO since 1999 and yet Donna Shalala continues to protect this lawbreaking contractor instead of protecting the basic civil rights of janitors who clean her campus.

Worse, it is clear by now that Shalala is working in concert with UNICCO to fight the workers' union drive, coordinating with UNICCO on legal strategies and an anti-worker, anti-student PR campaign costing the University hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The University is threatening students who support the janitors with expulsion and attempting to force them to confess to illegal actions and even has obtained an injunction blocking freedom of speech on campus by workers and their supporters. It is a shocking and deeply disappointing response from Shalala and an institution that should be modeling the highest ethical standards and commitment to freedom of expression, dissent, and debate.

In all this, there is one bright spot: the incredible spirit and unwillingness of these workers to give up their fight. Their spirit has brought John Edwards, Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Charles Steele, former House leader David Bonior, and a host of other great leaders and supporters from around the worlds to Freedom City to show their support.

What began as a strike over unfair labor practices among the 425 immigrant janitors at the University of Miami is now a much larger struggle about the future of this country.

It is about a fundamental question: Who gets to decide whether or not immigrant workers in the South or anywhere else in America will have the right to choose to join together and take control of their own futures so they can achieve the American Dream?

Will it be so-called liberal friends like Donna Shalala and bottom-feeder employers like UNICCO? Or will it be the workers themselves?

The answer to that question will say a lot about the future of our country.

You can help - Call Donna Shalala 305-284-5155. Tell her she's on the wrong side of history. Tell her her anti-worker stand will prevent thousands of workers in Miami and throughout the South from having the chance to lift themselves out of poverty. Tell her to be a leader, end the strike now, and force her contractor UNICCO to allow workers to form a union through the majority sign-up process that they desire.