When Tufts janitors begin bargaining the terms of a new contract with OneSource/ABM Industries Inc. today, they will have the backing of many students.
The Jumbo Janitor Alliance (JJA), a student organization dedicated to supporting and recognizing Tufts' custodians, is lobbying the administration to support the janitors in their quest for more sick days and other improved benefits during the negotiations with ABM.
"Definitely if the university says something to [ABM], they're going to listen ... ABM just bought out OneSource, so this is a big contract. They don't want to upset [Tufts]," said sophomore Max Goldman, secretary of the JJA. "The money comes from Tufts so ... if Tufts were willing to have the money for more sick days in the contract between ABM and Tufts ... it could happen."
Goldman met on Tuesday with Tufts Vice President of Operations John Roberto to encourage the administration to get involved in the contract negotiations. Goldman said Roberto told him that the university planned on letting the janitors work things out with ABM on their own. They will be represented by officials from the Local 615, Service Employees International Union.
"He gave me his comment, which was that the university is hoping for a fair deal at the table and that they believe in the process of collective bargaining - that it will work out in the end," Goldman said.
The JJA staged a rally on April 16 outside the front of Tisch Library. Many Tufts students and almost as many janitors attended the demonstration, along with union officials and Massachusetts State Senator Pat Jehlen.
Demonstrators waved flags, chanted and listened to speeches supporting the janitors. Speakers at the rally included Jehlen, JJA Co-Chairs Kevin Dillon and Emma Mayerson and Professor of Physics Gary Goldstein.
The students' goal is to convince the Tufts administration to support the workers during contract negotiations. The JJA hopes the university will use its position of influence to help the janitors obtain their demands.
At the rally, JJA members circulated a petition calling on Tufts administrators to support the janitors.
ABM acquired OneSource, the cleaning company contracted by Tufts to provide janitorial services, last November. ABM's current contract with the janitors expires July 31.
Roberto told the Daily in an e-mail that he "does not believe the [negotiation] process will be contentious."
Because of legal restrictions, the janitors have not divulged the specifics of the demands they will make.
Dillon, the JJA's founder, said that Tufts began a trend of unfair treatment toward its janitors in 1993, when the university outsourced its cleaning operations to an external contractor.
Outsourcing, Dillon said, leads to "a dramatic pay cut and a decrease in benefits. [Tufts administrators] were able to distance the workers enough that they cut off all their benefits."
The move also "changed [the janitors'] status from legitimate community members to an outside force that weren't really recognized by a lot of students ... as part of the Tufts community," Dillon said. "We're trying to ameliorate some of the damage done."
Dillon said it will not be easy to convince the administration to stand up for the janitors in negotiations with ABM, since Tufts, as the contractor's client, is considered a third party in the negotiations.
"Unions cannot directly target third parties," Dillon said. "However, what the union can do is, they appeal to community groups ... for them to do actions against different clients. [JJA is] the community organization, if there is one as far as students, faculty and staff, [to] make [Tufts] put pressure on ABM."
To this end, Dillon is encouraging students to e-mail Roberto and President Lawrence Bacow to convince them to advocate for the workers in the upcoming negotiations.
During the rally on April 16, Goldstein told the janitors they deserved the support of the Tufts community. "You keep our university operating. You make it possible for us to teach, for students to live here in the dorms. We are fully behind you in your negotiations," he said, to cheers from the crowd.
The other speakers echoed Goldstein's message. "We stand in solidarity with the workers, whatever [their] demands may be," Dillon said.
With the backing of musicians from B.E.A.T.S., a Tufts percussive performance group, workers and students chanted slogans like "ABM, don't be dumbos, treat your janitors like Jumbos!" The most energetic chant was labor activist César Chávez's famous slogan, "Sí, se puede," which translates in English to "yes, we can."
Many students pointed to Tufts' reputation for promoting active citizenship and social consciousness as a reason to support the workers. "Social justice is a Tufts value," freshman and JJA member Philip Bene said.
"If we don't stand up and fight, what message are we sending?" Mayerson said.
The JJA will hold another rally at 10 a.m. today outside Ballou Hall.
Giovanni Russonello contributed reporting to this article.
