Chief Operating Officer Will Clark (pictured) tried to “intimidate and harass” custodial union leadership by threatening to put their jobs out to bid — then followed through with the threat, according to a complaint filed this week with the state labor relations board.
The complaint was filed Monday by AFSCME Council 4 Local 287, which represents about 200 custodial workers and drivers for the New Haven Public Schools.
The union is currently negotiating with the Board of Education (BOE) on a new contract to replace the one that expired June 30, 2009. Meanwhile, the city just issued a Request For Proposals seeking to hire a private company to perform the custodial services that are currently done by union labor.
AFSCME spokesman Larry Dorman said the BOE is attempting to “punish” and “intimidate” the union by moving to privatize its jobs while the negotiations continue.
The union’s complaint centers on a negotiation session between Clark and union leaders on Dec. 7.
After the meeting, Clark informed the union president and vice-president that “if they continued to file complaints and grievances, the Board [of Education] would contract out the work performed by Local 287,” according to the complaint.
Clark’s comment “interfered with, restrained and coerced” workers’ rights and discriminated against them for having filed past grievances, the complaint alleges.
Click here to read the complaint and accompanying union press release.
Reached Friday, Clark flatly denied the accusations.
“There was certainly no threats whatsoever,” Clark said. “The allegation is absolutely untrue.”
He said the union leaders were already aware that the school system was thinking of privatizing more jobs. He said he gave the union representatives “a heads up” that the BOE is looking at sending out an RFP to outsource custodial work in the next few weeks.
The RFP came out recently (it’s dated Dec. 20, but was available on Friday, two days prior to that date). Under the terms of the bid, the subcontractor would take on the “whole custodial operation,” Clark said.
Custodial services are currently managed by a private firm called AFB. The subcontractor would responsible for managing cleaning at a number of schools. The company would act as another layer of management above union workers.
Union workers wouldn’t necessarily lose their jobs: the company would give union members preference in doing the work. (Click here to read the RFP.)
Dorman called the RFP “retribution” for the union’s outspoken stance against privatization, and for its grievances on prior issues.
His complaints come as the school system continues to shift toward privatizing custodian’s services. The BOE already contracts with private companies to clean the BOE central office as well as all leased spaces. That comprises about half a dozen buildings, Clark said.
He said subcontracting the work has proved to be far more efficient for the school system.
The custodial union currently suffers from high absenteeism, according to school budget officials. On Friday, 50 workers were absent. On average, 1 in 4 are absent on a given day. That amounts an average of 350 lost hours of productivity per day based on absenteeism. The district spends $900,000 per year in overtime costs to hire workers to replace those who are absent, officials said. Workman’s compensation costs are among the highest in the city, too: Local 287 members incurred $870,000 over the past five years in workman’s compensation-related costs.
Dorman dismissed those charges.
He said outsourcing leads to a lack of transparency, costly contracts and more waste. If the district is having a problem with absenteeism, he said, “then that’s a management problem.” He said management should work with the union to address the issue.
Clark said the BOE just proved, in the passage of a trades union contract this week, that it can negotiate a fair deal even in these economic times. He accused Local 287 of canceling the last four to five negotiation sessions, showing an unwillingness to negotiate. Dorman said he could not address that allegation; Local 287 President Robert Montuori couldn’t be reached.
Paul Oates, spokesman for the state Board of Labor Relations, confirmed his office received the complaint this week. He said it is scheduled for an informal hearing on Jan. 29.
If the complaint isn’t worked out at that time, it would head for a public hearing before the labor relations board.