MIAMI -- Striking janitors who are anxious to bring attention to their cause took their protest to one of Miami's most exclusive neighborhoods, where Gloria and Emilio Estefan and other celebrities make their homes.

The maintenance and janitorial workers from the University of Miami were on Palm Island Thursday afternoon to protest what they say are their poverty-level wages.

Estefan is on the board of trustees of the university. The workers took their complaints to the homes of several UM trustees, including Estefan. Some of those homes are worth more than $40 million.

University of Miami janitors are among the most poorly paid employees in Miami-Dade County and they are striking in hopes of pressuring their Boston-based employer, UNICCO Service Co., to raise their wages. University janitors and their supporters say that none of the university's enormous wealth is being passed onto them.

According to a release from the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, janitors at UM earn as little as $6.40 an hour and have no employer-paid health insurance. Janitors employed by UNICCO in other cities earn as much as $14 an hour and have fully paid health insurance, according to the Service Employees International Union.

Thursday, in response to the Palm Island protest, a statement issued on behalf of Gloria Estefan said:

"Mrs. Estefan is aware of and sympathizes with the workers' concerns and has expressed to the university her support for a policy that provides fair pay and benefits to contractors working at the university.
"She believes that the university will do what is appropriate and necessary for this to happen. As a trustee and alum, she continues to focus her attention only on fundraising activities that support various university related organizations including the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis."

On Feb. 23, university President Donna Shalala issued a statement saying that she was establishing a group to conduct a review of compensation and benefits of contract employees.

The group is expected to report to Shalala within a month. The janitors vow to keep up their protests to maintain pressure on decision-makers.