How Clean is Too Clean?

After Public Safety lifted a ban on hiring subcontractors during breaks, the Administration asked American Building Management (ABM), a private janitorial service, to provide services during winter intersession. ABM, unwilling to hire temps, asked its employees to work for three days during the holidays, between Christmas and New Year’s. Even employees with unused vacation days were obliged to work those days.

Meanwhile, in the weeks before winter break, students’ inboxes were filled with reminders that housing would close for everyone, save some international students, on December 23. With so few people on campus, it was unnecessary to take the workers away from their families on the holidays.

Furthermore, it’s unreasonable that ABM would refuse to hire temps on the grounds that they’re not reliable enough. In the past, ABM has used such workers, albeit not always, for three-day stints. And while it may not have hired people for such lengthy commitments, no one can argue that Wesleyan’s need was pressing at this time. Having had success with temps, ABM should have let its full-time employees use their vacation days.

In addition to hiring temps when possible, ABM should give its full-time employees greater notice before asking them to work overtime. Most importantly, the company should not bully its employees into forfeiting vacation days, but rather offer them the option of working for overtime pay instead.

Perhaps most appalling about this situation is that ABM forbade its employees to communicate directly with Wesleyan’s Administration. This rule is not consistent with the University’s past attempts to uphold fair labor practices.

As it is, the University refuses to work with companies based on how much (or little) they pay their employees. Although Wesleyan’s request for janitorial services during winter break was perhaps a misallocation of resources, it is not the Administration’s fault that ABM decided not to hire temps. Now that the janitors have filed an organized complaint, however, Wesleyan should use its leverage to make sure that its janitorial staff is not corralled into working holidays, and without good reason.