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Three hours after school custodians blasted the city for threatening to privatize their jobs, the city released a counterattack: It revealed results of a surprise inspection that found custodians watching TV while they were supposed to be at work.
The strike and counter-strike came as the school board and school custodians union stand at a deadlock over negotiations on a new labor contract. Custodians in AFSCME Council 4 Local 287 have been working without a contract since June 30, 2009. Superintendent Reggie Mayo said at the last school board meeting that he’s counting on at least $1.5 million in concessions for the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Melissa Bailey File Photo
Negotiations were already “on the verge of disaster” before Thursday, said Local 287 President Robert Montuori (pictured).
He accused the city of trying to intimidate workers and punish the union for opposing privatization.
As negotiations stall, the city is moving forward toward privatization: It sent out a request for proposals in December, seeking bids on a custodial services contract for the schools. Eight bids came in; the district has identified GCA Services Group, Inc. out of Pennsburg, Penn. as its preferred bidder.
Custodians held a press event at noon Thursday to launch the beginning of an anti-privatization campaign. The union put up eight billboards across town with the message: “Privatization Equals Corruption.”
Custodians argue privatization would lead to lower wages, lost jobs, and wasted taxpayer money on costly management contracts. They’ve been showing up regularly at school board meetings to deliver that message: Click here to read more.
The Board of Education has already moved toward privatization: It contracts a private company to clean the BOE central office as well as a half-dozen school buildings.
Custodial services are currently managed by a private firm called AFB. The school board is looking for a subcontractor to act as another layer of management above custodians. The subcontractor would have the option of hiring non-union custodians. According to the Request for Proposals, union members would be considered for the privatized jobs, but would not be guaranteed a job. Union workers still fear that positions, benefits and wages would be cut.
Meanwhile, the city Thursday announced its own campaign — to crack down on “insubordination,” “ineffectiveness” and “apathetic attitudes” within the unionized custodial force.
A strongly worded press release sent out by Mayor John DeStefano’s office Thursday at 3 p.m. announced that 14 workers would be disciplined as a result of a surprise inspection performed last week. On June 17 at 10:30 p.m., AFB paid a surprise visit to custodians who were working the night shift at Hillhouse High School, Cross High School, the Hillhouse Fieldhouse and the Fair Haven School.
The inspection was timed to take place half an hour before the end of the shift, and during the final game of the NBA championship between the L.A. Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Of the 17 workers who were scheduled to be on the job that night, only one was working, according to mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. Two couldn’t be located, and the rest were either not working or were watching the Celtics’ defeat, she said in a statement.
Inspectors found signs of unfinished work, according to Mayorga: “In many locations, trash had not been emptied, bathrooms not clean and restocked, lights were left on.”
Mayorga said the incident pointed to a broader problem: “This activity has become representative of the type of insubordination and ineffectiveness of the current custodial corps of New Haven Public Schools.” On an average day, 25 percent of city school custodians are absent from work, costing the city an extra $2.2 million, she wrote.
President Montuori acknowledged a problem, but called it a “management problem.” AFP gets paid $1.1 million to manage the custodial work. Montuori said the surprise visit may be the first time AFP representatives ever set foot in the building.
“If a person never sees a supervisor or a manager, what do you think is going to happen?” he asked.
Schools Chief Operating Officer Will Clark rejected that characterization. He said AFP does spend a lot of time in the school buildings. Custodians shouldn’t need to be told to do their jobs, he argued.
“They get paid to clean the buildings — they should show up and clean the buildings,” Clark said. “I shouldn’t have to show up and watch them and make them clean the buildings!”
Clark said the district has found that in the buildings where the city has already privatized custodial work, the district saves at least two-thirds of the cost of using union-only labor, “and the work gets done.”
“I get zero complaints about the cleanliness in those buildings,” Clark said, while he gets complaints every day about the other buildings, where the union workers clean.
Clark said given the efficiency and good results, it makes sense to continue to privatize the custodial work. He said language in the custodian’s current contract allows the district to further privatize after June 30, 2009. His said the district doesn’t need union consent in order to privatize, but it is still negotiating in good faith.
Montuori disagreed on that point. He said further privatization would require a change to the union’s contract language.
Montuori said the surprise inspection was another example of the school board using intimidation tactics to force negotiations. He made that allegation, about a different situation, in a formal labor complaint against Clark.
Montuori said he later withdrew the complaint in the spirit of cooperation.