Shortly before Thanksgiving, Sun Services, a subcontractor hired by the University for custodial services, engaged in a dispute with the custodians it employs over whether the custodians would have to work on Friday, Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving. According to Jose Rodriguez, the workers’ union representative from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ, the disagreement stemmed from the fact that the previous subcontractor, American Building Maintenance (ABM) Industries, had in the past given the Friday after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday. Eventually, the dispute was resolved when Sun Services agreed to grant the workers a paid holiday on Nov. 23.
“According to our members they always [have] been compensated for that day,” Rodriguez wrote in an email to Associate Vice President for Facilities Joyce Topshe on which The Argus was copied. “Additionally according to the Union Agreement Article # 30 if the prior contractor in this case ABM was paying them the day after Thanksgiving SUN Services has to comply with the same too.”
In an email response, Topshe indicated that her understanding was that the workers would have a holiday on Thanksgiving, but that the contract did not provide for an additional day off.
“Wesleyan’s contract with Sun Services dictates that ‘The Contractor’s employees shall only have days off in accordance with the applicable bargaining agreement between the Contractor and their employees,’” Topshe wrote. “As I understand it, the 32BJ agreement provides a Thanksgiving holiday this year on Thursday, November 22, 2012.”
According to Topshe, if the workers did not want to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving, they would have to use one of the discretionary days they have been allotted in their contract.
“This issue is raised every year by the custodians and Wesleyan’s position has not changed,” Topshe wrote. “Wesleyan has provided Sun Services with the weekend cleaning schedule. I understand that Sun Services has informed their staff of the schedule and notified them that if they would like Friday as a day off then the individual employee must use their earned time. This is consistent with past practice from ABM.”
She indicated that the University would require the cleaning of residential, athletic, and some academic buildings on Friday, Nov. 23, as well as coverage of residential facilities on the following Sunday and facilities for winter sports in Freeman Athletic Center on the following Saturday and Sunday.
In response to the disagreement between Sun Services and the workers, several workers met with Cesar Chavez ’15, a member of United Student-Labor Action Coalition (USLAC) to discuss their options. They resolved not to come to work on Thursday Nov. 22 or Friday Nov. 23, and Chavez posted a notice in Usdan University Center which instructed workers in Spanish not to show up to work on those days.
“We the students of USLAC recommend that you, the workers of Sun Services, do not come to work on Thanksgiving, Thursday Nov. 22, or Friday Nov. 23. Enforce your rights; do not come to work,” the flyer read.
Although the notice was signed by USLAC, USLAC member Alma Sanchez-Eppler ’14 indicated that the notice was Chavez’s initiative in response to a request from workers. She also noted that USLAC serves as a resource for workers on campus to accomplish their goals.
According to Chavez, the dispute was resolved after the workers decided to strike.
“It started out as a strike but eventually things worked out for the best,” Chavez wrote.
Chavez noted that although some custodians do work on Thanksgiving, many do not, and none of them work on the Friday after Thanksgiving. He said that a worker approached him to ask for his recommendation regarding the situation.
“I suggested to [the workers] that the best way to avoid their rights being stepped on, and to enforce their right to have a Thanksgiving Holiday, was to not go to work,” Chavez wrote. “On Wednesday [Nov. 21] all the workers met up, I was with them, and decided that no one was going to come to work. They even signed a list as a sort of pledge, to which I was also witness. However, when the company got word of this, and so did Jose Rodriguez, it was agreed that the workers would retain their right to holiday vacations. Gloria Tobon and Herminia Aranda… were at the front of the entire movement.”
Rodriguez said that he contacted ABM Branch Manager Peter Caniano to confirm the terms of ABM’s former contract with the workers, as did Sun Services President Bob Weintraub. After Weintraub spoke with Caniano, he then approved a paid holiday for the workers on Nov. 23.
Rodriguez expressed satisfaction with the ultimate resolution.
“SUN Services [honored] the Union Agreement Article Number 30.4 as a responsible contractor, applying benefits that the prior contractor [had] given to the custodians,” Rodriguez said. “In this particular case the custodians at Wesleyan enjoyed the day after Thanksgiving as an extra holiday with pay.”
In previous articles, several sources have commented on the University’s position regarding Sun Services’ relationship with the custodial staff. President Michael Roth refused to comment personally on the situation for this article, instead referring The Argus to Topshe.