To President Simpson:
Approximately 15 years ago, the University at Buffalo began hiring private custodial companies to clean specific buildings on campus. As unionized state employees retired or left over the years, the university continued to replace their services with those of the contracted companies. Today, more than half of the university is cleaned by two major private cleaning companies, OneSource and ABM.
The workers of these companies make poverty wages with no benefits, do not receive due raises, are unpaid for sick days, are often unpaid for overtime and do not receive a shift differential for nighttime work. Meanwhile, the union has been considerably weakened by the loss of membership as more and more non-union workers have been brought in. Both groups are suffering. The contracted workers lack the university's support in receiving proper wages and respect from their employers, and the union has lost its power and voice as it now only makes up a small percentage of UB's cleaning workforce. In the long term, the union will disappear completely, driving down wages and benefits across the board.
It is in light of this situation that UB Students Against Sweatshops has begun a living wage campaign in solidarity with the workers that make UB run. With both union and contracted workers, we have established a set of demands to ensure their safety and well-being in the workplace. These demands are as follows:
1. All campus workers will earn an entry-level wage of $10.75 per hour.
2. All campus workers will receive benefits based on prevailing percentage in CSEA Local 602's contract.
3. The contracts that ABM and OneSource hold with the university will be made accessible to the public, in their entirety.
UB has removed itself from these circumstances by insisting that the contracted companies, and not the university, are responsible for the working conditions of their employees. This attitude is completely unacceptable and irresponsible. The university would not run without its cleaners and therefore has a definite duty to ensure the safety and security of their jobs. As students, we pledge our support to the people who make our university clean and efficient daily, doing their job without the recognition and standards they deserve.
We would appreciate your response by Dec. 15.
UB Students Against Sweatshops
Black Student Union
Citizen Action of Western New York
Coalition for Economic Justice
Engineers for a Sustainable World
Feminist Action Group
Hillel at Buffalo
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Lambda Sigma Upsilon Fraternity Inc. - Latinos Siempre Unidos
Muslim Student Association
Keri Anne Marshall - People of Color Council Coordinator
Poder: Latinos Unidos
St. Joe's - Social Justice Committee
UB Progressive Alliance
Unitarian Univers alists of UB
Women's Center
Dela Yador - Student Association President
