2008 Woodie Awards
Web Update: Janitors told by NU not to rally here
Derek Hawkins & Marc Larocque
Issue date: 8/1/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
The rally, which had previously been approved by Northeastern officials, would have served to elicit student and community support for the janitors who have said they suffer from low wages, meager benefits, antiquated work equipment, daily harassment and limited safety gear.
Northeastern administrators informed the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA), the group responsible for organizing the rally, that any non-students or individuals not employed directly by the university would be escorted off-campus for trespassing if they appeared at the rally.
Although janitors, PSA members and organizers from the Service Employees International Union (SEUI) Local 615, received permission from the Northeastern Scheduling Office more than a week ago to hold the rally, the university retracted permission on Tuesday and ordered the group to instead hold an "educational forum" in 450 Dodge Hall.
"Northeastern's policy on demonstrations prohibits persons who are not students, faculty or employees of Northeastern from participating in demonstrations on campus, even if invited to do so by a Northeastern student or faculty member," Brooke Tempesta, director of campus activities and programs, said in an e-mail. An interview with The News was declined.
The janitors, most of whom said they work the overnight shift, are employed by Consolidated Services Corporation (CSC), a private company, and are members of SEIU Local 615. Northeastern contracts CSC workers through the labor union on a five-year basis.
"Right now we're worried that the contract will expire and nothing will happen," said Salvador Pena, a member of the night staff who has worked at Northeastern for seven years and spoke to The News through a translator. "[Northeastern and CSC] continue to fail to provide us with what we need to live. We will not stop until they recognize us as real employees and part of the NU community."
SEIU Local 615's current contract with the university is set to expire Aug. 31, and the proposed new contract - which is negotiated between CSC, the union and Northeastern - fails to provide adequate pay and deserved benefits, protestors said.
Flyers for the rally appeared on campus recently. One compared Harvard's janitorial contract with that of Northeastern: The starting wage there is $18.50, while it is $12.95 here; there is a $0.50 per hour overnight compensation there, while there is no overnight compensation here; there are six to 12 sick days offered a year there (depending on seniority), while there are two sick days offered here (without consideration of seniority); and $300,000 is put toward training and safety education there, while no training or safety education is offered here.
Viewing Comments 1 - 7 of 8
bob
posted 8/21/07 @ 12:59 PM EST
NU is fascist!
Los
posted 8/23/07 @ 7:03 PM EST
Great article. Whether or not Northeastern wants to act like they have any idea about what's really going on, I hope they will step up to the plate and finally do right by these employees. (Continued…)
Jack
posted 8/31/07 @ 12:22 PM EST
Paying the janitors more means we have to pay more tuition to go here.
Celo
posted 8/31/07 @ 8:33 PM EST
no it means aiun will wipe his ass wit 5s instead of 20's
Celo
posted 8/31/07 @ 8:42 PM EST
no paying the janitors more means that the administration would make less money and the president of Neu might be living in a cheaper house rather than that mansion on Beacon Hill. (Continued…)
laferrarac
Casey
posted 9/14/07 @ 3:32 PM EST
Tuition will not go up with the janitor's salaries! Are you joking? Think about how much money each of us pay to go here. You don't think NU has plenty of money to give their hard working employees a raise? This article shocked and disgusted me. (Continued…)
KC
posted 9/21/07 @ 1:28 PM EST
Disgusting that someone can think about tuition hikes when someone's wages are at stake. I'm not going to make any presumptions, because I know there is at least a handful of students at this school who know what it means not to have money, but if you were ever stuck in a job cleaning bathrooms and floors for a bunch of rich snobs who didn't appreciate it, or if one of your family members came from that background, you'd feel so much different about this issue. (Continued…)
Post a Comment