Union Disputes Contracts

Chanting spirited slogans and banging noisily on pots and pans, a crowd of approximately 25 janitors and union representatives traced a circle in front of the Holyoke Center last Friday to protest Harvard’s treatment of custodial workers.

The hour-long demonstration, coordinated by Service Employees International Union Local 615 under its “Justice for Janitors” campaign, opposed a potential Harvard transfer of several cleaning contracts which, according to union representatives, could cost several employees their jobs.

Currently, 11 janitors clean the three areas that would be affected, and the transfer of the contract could lead to as many as five custodians losing their jobs.

Harvard put the cleaning contracts up for bid, and three companies—Harvard Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO), UNICCO Service Company, and ABC Maintenance—all underbid the existing provider, Rufo Cleaning and Maintenance (RCM). Following a month-long delay that forced Harvard to keep its building cleaning contracts with RCM, Harvard will award contracts to the three other companies on September 1.

Demonstrators accused the University of pinching pennies at workers’ expense. Cleaning is a labor-intensive industry, which means that cutting labor costs is a primary means to lower overall costs.

“Labor is a large component of the cost in the cleaning industry,” said RCM president David Rufo. Terminating employees, he said, “is one means of cutting costs in the industry....Whether or not they’re really going to do that, I can’t say. If there’s a position available, they’re required to offer it to existing staff.”

The Service Employees Union’s complaints are twofold: first, it says some workers could lose their jobs in the transition, and, second, it suggests that one of the companies that could pick up a contract, ABC Maintenance, is not unionized.

“The union contract states that when there’s a change in company, there isn’t a change in jobs,” said union representative Courtney A. Snegroff. “I think that [Harvard] will be in violation if they don’t hire all the workers.”

If the contracts are transferred, the union seeks to maintain employment for all of its custodians.

“There’s been no promise from FMO, Unico, or ABC that they will hire them back,” Snegroff said.

Rufo said that he didn’t have enough work in his company to keep the workers with RCM.

“I’m not thrilled with it, but it’s really not my decision,” Rufo said.

Snegroff said that she met with officials from the Harvard Planning and Real Estate office who told her that the contracts were up for reassignment to cut costs and that money could be saved by reducing the number of employees or the hours that they work.

Wearing purple and orange union T-shirts, the demonstrators chanted slogans in both English and Spanish.

The janitors’ motivations were personal and pressing.

“We’re Latin Americans, and we’re working here to survive. I’m very worried about this. I live by my work,” Alberto Toj Garcia said (with Snegroff translating). As an RCM employee, Toj is one of the janitors who could lose his job in the transition.

“We hope that what we’re doing with this struggle is win—that’s what we’re trying to do,” Toj said.

The union said the workers received a temporary stay that postponed the contract transfer from August 1 to September 1, but the union is still seeking official confirmation that its workers will not lose their jobs.

“A one-month stay is a mini-victory in that on Monday, everyone has work,” Snegroff said.

Snegroff said that previous demonstrations had prompted the rehiring of four woman janitors in January.

Neither Harvard Planning and Real Estate nor the Harvard News Office would comment on the union’s demands.

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.