Students Protest Layoffs at HMS

Student and worker protests erupted at Harvard Medical School yesterday after budgetary cutbacks made this week the last week of employment for nine janitorial workers hired from a subcontracted company.

Medical School students and union officials said that the layoffs are very likely to continue, with more cuts scheduled for July 1. Over the course of the day, three protests took place, the last being a candlelight vigil that drew over 40 people to the Medical School Quadrangle in the midst of a light rain.

At the vigil, students and union members read the testimonies of four workers who will be laid off, effective Friday—one who had worked at HMS for three years, another for two.

The Medical School employs 110 custodial workers, according to Richard M. Shea, an associate dean of planning and facilities. 77 of those workers are on the direct payroll and 33 are subcontracted through the American Cleaning Company.

“All signs point to more layoffs in the future,” said Courtney Snegroff, of Service Employees International Union Local 615, which organized the three protests. “The ultimate employer is Harvard. It is up to them to make these cuts.”

Benjamin J. Oldfield, a medical student, said that layoffs should be a last resort, and that he has seen no drastic efforts to reduce other costs.

“The building is still warm, there are still events with beer and wine,” he said. “We are willing to make those sacrifices.”

Oldfield said that students need to be more “in the know” about University finances. He stressed that Harvard’s non-profit status—and tax breaks—result from the large number of jobs the University provides for the community.

“If it’s a question of preserving the endowment or preserving the workers and their livelihoods, we think the choice is very clear,” Oldfield said.

Executive Dean for Administration Daniel G. Ennis will lead a town hall meeting Friday with students to discuss the Medical School’s current financial status.

Shea said that because of economic pressures hitting the Medical School, his department determined that it could reduce costs by deferring maintenance and cutting cleaning services in areas that are not heavily used.

He said that Harvard officials met with representatives from SEIU and American Cleaning, and asked that the laid-off employees be placed elsewhere.

Shea said that if there are any future vacancies, Harvard would like to hire the laid-off employees on its own staff. He said that other cutbacks have included efforts to increase energy efficiency on campus and centralizing equipment purchases through service contracts.

Lee Santos, a district manager at the ACC, said that his company was not involved in the protests, which he said were organized by the union members only. He said the nine people laid off averaged 20 hours of work per week for Harvard.

“I don’t think anybody enjoys applying job cuts to any company but in some cases it is necessary,” he said.

Santos said that the company met with the laid-off employees and told them they had the right to collect unemployment benefits until placements open up elsewhere.

“Can I guarantee them a job at this point?” Santos asked. “At this point, I cannot.”

—Staff writer Laura G. Mirviss can be reached at lmirviss@fas.harvard.edu.