off-campus in order to avoid crossing the janitors' picket lines. On March 16, 2006, Shalala capitulated and announced a wage raise of at least 25%. SEIU celebrated this gain, but they contained to prepare for further action at the University of Miami. On March 28, the tactics began to receive significant media attention. Clergy and students began blocking traffic on U.S. Route 1. 17 of the activists were arrested for blocking a major highway. At the same time, students were infiltrating the University of Miami admissions office. Here, the students argued with Shalala for four hours until she finally agreed to attend a meeting to discuss the current situation. The last stage of the campaign consisted of hunger strikes that led the University of Miami to feel a sense of crisis. Many of the strike's participants were hospitalized as a result of their extensive fasting. Due to the escalating sense of crisis on the university's campus, Shalala finally gave in. She proposed an even higher pay increase along with health benefits and a generous holiday break including paid personal days and paid holidays. Boston Campaign In an effort to demand higher wages, janitors in Boston under the SEIU 254 Justice for Janitors campaign had been planning to strike in the beginning of September 2002, but due to Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s intervention, the plans were delayed. The walkout was then planned for and took place on September 30, 2002. Around 2,000 janitors walked out and walked the streets of Downtown Boston, holding signs and chanting in both English and Spanish. The janitors participating in the march were employed by UNICCO, and walked out of their places of employment such as institutions like Harvard and Northeastern University. Janitors were joined by students who supported the movement. Former maid, Rocio Saenz, of the Local 254 of the SEIU in Boston, said “'janitors in New York, Chicago and San Francisco have health insurance, and when you consider that Boston is a world class city and has the second-highest rents in the nation, we don't understand it when the cleaning contractors say they can't afford to pay health insurance.'' This initial strike in Boston did not achieve the success its predecessor campaigns did, which some people expected. Some later campaigns at MIT were more successful in obtaining workers higher wages. Criticism Criticism of the Justice for Janitors campaign is typically centered on non-democratic union