Students lobbied for improved conditions

By Jack Nicas

After months of protests, petitions and political involvement, Tufts students and janitors’ hard work has paid off. On Aug. 11, the janitors received a new contract from ABM (formerly OneSource), the cleaning company through which Tufts contracts its janitors.

The contract’s ratification marked the end of summer-long negotiations between ABM; a bargaining committee made up of janitors; the Jumbo Janitor Alliance, a university-recognized student group; and SEIU 615, the local union representing the janitors. Tufts Vice President of Operations John Roberto said in an email that the contract goes into effect immediately.

The five-year contract extends until 2013; a year more than the four-year contracts cleaning companies such as ABM customarily sign. It includes an 80 cent an hour wage increase each year for the next four years, meaning the janitors will be paid $14.65 an hour in 2009 and $17.05 in 2012. On Jan. 1, 2013, in the fifth year of the contract, the janitors will receive a 35 cent an hour raise. On July 1 of that year, the janitors’ wages will be raised to $1 over the highest rate in the master contract, a contract that applies to 11,000 contracted janitors in commercial buildings across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

Janitors will also see an increase in their sick days, from the previous three to nine by 2013. However, the days off will no longer be considered sick days, but rather ‚Äúpersonal days,‚Äù and thus will not require a doctor’s note.

Maxwell Goldman, a junior at Tufts and member of the student alliance, said the biggest improvement in the contract was the increase of full-time workers from 65 percent of the staff to 90 percent. “By the end, it was our main thing because full-time work was really important to the bargaining committee-to get more people the hours they need to become eligible for health care,” he said.

‚ÄúAt first [Tufts] wanted to give us a tiny increase, so some of us sat down with [Roberto] and made it clear the reason we weren’t ready to sign the contract yet was full-time work,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúThen they said, ‘Oh, we can give you 90 [percent] now.’‚Äù

Roberto said in an email that Tufts is working with ABM to make the level of full-time employment ‚Äúconsistent with the university’s operational needs.‚Äù He added that costs have increased for Tufts under the new contract, ‚Äúbut that is not unusual as most costs rise annually.‚Äù

ABM could not be reached for comment.

The increased percentage of the staff with full-time jobs will now be able to enjoy full health care coverage. The contract ensures affordability by setting a fixed rate of $100 per month for the entire five-year period to cover the janitors and their families.

The student alliance rose awareness for the custodial staff through student-led rallies, including one that stopped traffic in Davis Square, a petition with over 1,300 student signatures, and a letter of support for the janitors addressed to Tufts President Lawrence Bacow, signed by the Board of Aldermen.

Roxana Rivera, a representative for the janitors‚Äô union, said the student group’s involvement was ‚Äúessential‚Äù to the negotiations and improved the final contract.

‚ÄúIf it weren’t for [the students,] the work of the janitors wouldn’t have been as valued as it was in the negotiations; they helped frame what this was all really about,‚Äù she said.

Roberto said in an email, “We respect the rights of our students to express their views on this subject.”

Goldman said the Jumbo Janitor Alliance would live on, despite achieving one of their main goals. “We want to bring janitors and students at Tufts together to make a stronger community between the two groups,” he said. “At most colleges the janitors are kind of invisible people, so we want to change that.”

‚ÄúThe workers are grateful to the students,‚Äù Rivera said. ‚ÄúIt makes for a better workplace for all, because you have a group of people that see each other everyday and really have an investment in each other, and I think that’s overall good for the school.‚Äù