The number of unionized custodial workers at UB has been declining steadily since the early 1990s, leading some union leaders on campus to question the hiring practices of the university and call for a return to a fully unionized custodial staff.
Union leaders contend the private, non-union cleaners hired by the university over the past decade are not as capable as union employees and are more likely to steal from the areas they clean - claims disputed by university officials, who also cite millions of dollars in savings by not hiring unionized custodial workers.
Representatives of the Civil Service Employees Association said the unionized custodial staff has dropped by about 600 workers in the past decade, since UB realized its contract with CSEA allowed them to hire non-union custodial workers from private firms, provided no CSEA employee loses a job as a direct result.
As members of CSEA retire or otherwise leave UB, the university is not obligated to hire another union worker. As the CSEA custodial staff gets smaller through attrition, UB makes up the difference by hiring non-union custodial workers through private companies such as Class Act Cleaning Service of Buffalo.
"With CSEA employees getting older, our staff is shrinking," said Ken Penski, president of CSEA Local 602.
Penski said his union began exploring ways to save union jobs since UB began hiring non-union custodial workers over a decade ago but was unable to combat the losses.
"I can"t stop them," Penski said. "No matter what we tried, it just didn"t work."
University officials said they realize some union jobs are lost indirectly as a result of UB"s contracting out of custodial services, but said the practice is necessary given the money saved.
"It saves us millions of dollars in overall custodial costs," said Kevin Seitz, vice-president of University Services, who oversees custodial contract negotiations.
"While it was a difficult situation, the economic situation in the "90s was one that the university decided the savings in this case would be something university absolutely had to do," Seitz said.
Seitz added UB has not since been in a financial position to revert back to an entirely unionized custodial staff.
All of the custodial workers in the residence halls at UB are still employed by the state, and thus are members of CSEA, according to Penski. The privately hired, non-union custodial workers operate mainly in academic buildings.
Union officials claim the non-union employees hired through Class Act do not clean as well as CSEA cleaners.
"I"d put our CSEA cleaners up against anyone from the outside, because I know our cleaners would do a better job," said Penski.
"It"s a credibility issue"
Rick Preischel, the grievance chair for Local 602, said he believes that non-union custodial workers are more likely to steal from offices or classrooms they clean, based on complaints he has received.
However, Director of Public Safety John Grela said Preischel"s claim is unfounded.
"No, they are not more responsible for thefts," Grela said, adding he has analyzed the crime numbers in various ways to reach that conclusion. "We have had a couple of problems over years, but no more than we"ve had with other employees on the state side."
Preischel also said he is concerned over the lack of background screening Class Act cleaners receive. All CSEA cleaners are screened extensively, according to Preischel.
One Class Act cleaner was arrested on North Campus in June on a sex abuse charge, and according to Preischel, the arrest is evidence of the lack of screening given by Class Act.
"It"s a credibility issue," said Preischel. "We"re very much concerned about the health and safety of staff and students."
The cleaner, Calvin Macklin, was wanted on a federal probation violation at the time of the alleged assault for walking away from a halfway house where he was serving part of a prison sentence for a narcotics conviction, according to The Buffalo News.
However, Grela said the incident was a domestic situation between two cleaners and could have occurred regardless of hiring practices. Grela stressed the numerous examinations he has conducted of crime statistics and suggested the cleaners were being unfairly branded as thieves.
"For some reason they"re an easy target, just as the state cleaners were before the contract cleaners," Grela said.
Seitz said he has heard of problems with Class Act cleaners, but said any department at the university was susceptible to hiring a poor employee.
A Gradual Process
UB fills custodial positions in a piecemeal fashion, as jobs become available through attrition of CSEA workers. That results in some buildings being cleaned by both state-employed CSEA workers and privately employed, non-union workers.
For example, Capen Hall is maintained mainly by Class Act cleaners, except for the fifth floor of the building, which is maintained by CSEA cleaners. The fifth floor is the administrative headquarters of the university and home to the offices of President John Simpson, along with several vice presidents, including Seitz.
While some union officials suggested this was implicit acknowledgement of the reliability of unionized cleaners by university management, Seitz said the cleaners on the fifth floor of Capen have simply been working at UB for several years. The opportunity to replace them with non-union workers has not been presented, he said.
"One of those Tough Decisions"
Ultimately, CSEA officials said their end goal is to return to the days where the custodial staff at UB is entirely unionized. They said it is important not only for UB, but for other schools in the SUNY system.
"With us being the largest (school in the SUNY system), I think they"re starting with us first and seeing what happens," said Penski.
However, UB officials stressed the school is simply not in a financial position to hire an entirely unionized custodial staff.
"Whenever you have to make difficult decisions, usually someone will not be as happy with it as is someone else," said Seitz. "This is one of those tough decisions."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
