By
Eric Staples
May 29, 2009
A protest by UW custodians and their families yesterday made it clear to UW Custodial Services that swing-shift custodians would not move to the day shift without a fight.
Swing-shift custodians at the UW have been fighting to stay on their current shift of 4:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. since UW Custodial Services announced in March that the 85 custodians currently on the shift would be forced to move to the day shift.
As a lead in to yesterday’s special Board of Regents meeting, more than 100 people marched and chanted from Red Square to the Northlake Building, which houses the UW’s Custodial Services. The protesters blocked the front door of the building and demanded that Gene Woodard, director of Custodial Services, rescind his decision to move swing-shift custodians to the day shift or be fired.
“Gene has to go!” the crowd shouted repeatedly.
The protestors were composed of a broad scope of UW community members, including custodians, students, UW faculty and non-custodial staff.
“Time is running out,” said Mehereteab Mengistu, a swing-shift custodian who was present at the protest. “They don’t respect us.”
Swing-shift custodians are scheduled to start working the day shift this coming Monday.
The protest was fueled in part by a negotiation meeting that took place Wednesday between the union representing UW custodians, Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) Local 1488 and UW Custodial Services.
In the meeting, UW Custodial Services made it known that they were firm in their decision to transfer swing-shift custodians to the day shift.
“There is no flexibility here,” said Salvador Castillo, executive vice president of WFSE 1488. “They [UW Custodial Services] have not agreed to leave more than eight people on swing shift.”
The prevailing concern among the protesters was the impact the move will have on custodians whose livelihoods depend on them working the swing shift.
“My wife works in the daytime, and I take care of my children when she’s working,” said Neztereab Seare, a swing-shift custodian of 20 years. “Also, if I go to the day shift, my salary won’t be enough because I have child support to pay.”
Concerns like Seare’s drove the protestors to speak directly to Woodard. The protesters shouted and demanded that Woodard come out of the building to speak. With no success, the protestors attempted to enter the building, but five UW police officers stopped them.
“We knew that they were going to march,” said Assistant Chief Ray Wittmier of the UW Police Department (UWPD). “We assigned a couple of light patrol generally to provide safety while they cross the street.”
However, the officers did allow three of the custodians to enter the building to see if Woodard was there. When they came outside informing the protestors that he was not there, they began shouting “coward.”
John Frazier, WFSE 1488’s newly elected president, had control of the megaphone during the majority of the protest.
“We’re going to start setting these up all the time until this thing is done and our people are okay,” he said. “Just to make sure that, at the end of the day, our workers are treated fairly.”
The protesters left Northlake Building with one final declaration.
“We’ll be back,” Frazier yelled into the megaphone.
The majority of the crowd moved on to participate in the special Board of Regents meetings to speak to the regents on behalf of the custodians.
Reach reporter Eric Staples at news@dailyuw.com.
2 Comments
#1 Matthew H.
on May 29, 2009 at 10 a.m.(Auburn, WA)
Great job everyone! This protest was organized by an alliance of rank and file committees of custodians and the student group Democracy Insurgent as well as several students from Student Labor Action Project. Dozens of students and custodians produced and passed out flyers, got on the megaphone, gave speeches, etc. Rank and file worker power with student solidarity works and we need to build it in other workplaces to fight cuts at UW.
We just got word that the custodial managers decided not to cut the swingshift on Monday, and are postponing their decision until July 1st. This is a serious victory and it gives us more time to organize to keep the swing shift permanently. The struggle is not over - we WILL be back!
#2 Matthew H.
on May 29, 2009 at 10:15 a.m.(Auburn, WA)
Democracy Insurgent sent an open letter to Gene Woodard, director of custodial services warning him that cutting the swingshift could lead to dangerously dirty lab conditions at UW. Because Mr. Woodard did not respond to our letter we've begun flyering outside Health Sciences and the UW Medical Center saying "are we paying 14% more tuition for dirty labs and clogged toilets?" We are also contacting the health inspector and OSHA as well as US News and World Report rankings of universities asking them to investigate UW in light of Mr. Woodard's decision. We hope that he decides to keep the swingshift permanently, not just for one more month. If he does not, he will bring a lot of embarrassment to our university.
The open letter can be found on the Anti-Budget Cut Coalition website:
http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com/20...
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