Eric Drummond

“Will I have a job?”
“Where’s all this magical money going to come from?”
“I think it’s crap that you guys don’t make a living wage!”
“We don’t want no union!”

Words were heavy on Monday, April 6, as a panel of RIT administrators, a local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organizer and other interested parties participated in an open forum concerning recent union activities on campus. Ingle Auditorium was packed, crowded with questioning and lively voices from RIT employees in dining services, facilities and maintenance and custodial services. Student managers and seasoned veterans were present, representing a strong interest in an issue that has become the talk of the workplace on campus. “The stakes are very high,” remarked Patty Spinelli, vice president of Human Resources.

But things weren’t always this tense. It began on a crisp Friday morning, March 27. An empowered band of students took to the pavement outside of Gracie’s, raising their voices and their signs in support of bringing labor unions to RIT. The United Student Labor Alliance (USLA), formed in mid-March, is a student group not affiliated with RIT who “supports the workers in their unionization effort and demands that RIT recognizes a potential union and halts its illegal interference.” The demonstration was peaceful and generated a significant amount of discussion over the next few weeks.

Eric Drummond

RJ Bean, who has a BS in Computer Science and is a current graduate student, is an active participant in the USLA and the International Socialist Organization. He outlined his intent, “If the workers feel that a union is what’s best for them but can’t discuss because of fear for being terminated, then we would like to be the voice of the worker.” The notion of the worker is an ever-present yet somewhat abstract entity at RIT, in the sense that not one person can truly purport to speak for all that work done tirelessly on behalf of the school. The people who labor for RIT are from a variety of educational, economic and ethnic backgrounds, each coming in with their own expectations of what constitutes a proper workplace environment.

With rumors flying on both sides and USLA members requesting action at a Student Government (SG) meeting, Ed Wolf, SG president, decided to bring everyone to the same table. Panelists during the forum included Spinelli, Bean and Calvin Ott, an organizer for SEIU local 200United, which represents service workers of Upstate New York. During the panel discussion, students and RIT employees were invited to come down and share their opinions and ask questions of the representatives. Lasting two hours, the talks were often emotional and pointed.

“We’re like a family here,” commented Lynn Stocum, a custodian working in Sol Heumann hall, “RIT has stood behind me in the worst of times.” The sentiment was reiterated on both sides that the relationship between employees and administration was healthy. With that family spirit in mind, the first employees that spoke seemed to view the presence of labor unions as an unnecessary intrusion into their work life. “Why were people being harassed?” questioned Stocum.

Reported incidents of harassment on the part of union officials elevated the tension on campus. Pro-union representatives stated that they were trying to help people make informed decisions, but many expressed that they felt hounded by frequent encroachments on their privacy. Surely there was a reason for the persistence of those who were involved with pro-union activities. In fact, there exists an amount of disgruntlement among RIT staff members, who feel that their relationship with management and administration has not been as warm as it has been reported to be. While those who represented the union spoke of increases in wages and benefits, much of what dissatisfied workers had to say were related more to the improvement of communication in the workplace.

Students and workers gather outside of Gracie’s to demonstrate Unionization.
Eric Drummond

“Management as a whole needs to change the way they relate to custodians,” said custodian Tasha McKenzie. Charles Phillips, a deaf custodian, spoke of struggling to understand meetings when no interpreter was provided for him. He also commented, “I did not feel comfortable when the HR [Human Resources] mandated that those working night ‘C’ shift had to either move to ‘A’ shift or find another job.” Since talks of unions began, a new program has been implemented to take one custodian from each crew and sit down with management to talk about issues in the workplace. Spinelli was eager to confront the issue: “Those are things every employer needs to work on ... the issues of respect and communication.”

On Thursday, April 9, only non-management employees were invited to a meeting with RIT human resources to open a dialogue. Issues that were raised included the possibility of layoffs, what RIT could guarantee, and more avenues of raising grievances against management. While there is a certain amount of agreement concerning some workers’ dissatisfaction, a major point of divide was the issue of wages and benefits. A spokesman for the disgruntled workers was Garret Davis, a custodian, “Sometimes when you don’t have what you want, you join together in order to get more.”

This is also an important issue for many interested students who have rallied for the cause of workers trying to unionize. A fact frequently quoted as incentive to give workers better wages is the average salary determined to be the national poverty line. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the 2009 poverty line is set at a wage of $22,050 a year for a family of four. The starting salary of a custodian at RIT is approximately $10 an hour, which roughly adds up to $20,800 a year. This is perceived to be the problem by union supporters and is expected to be the target of improvement through collective bargaining.

Not all are convinced that these wages are inhumanly low. Furthermore, many more see RIT as a place of opportunity where they have been able to acquire more skills and increase their own wage. Bill Drum, an employee of RIT for 27 years and current senior electrician, lent his perspective to the issue of wages and career development. “When I started working in the Greek tunnels ... when alcohol was legal on campus, I don’t have to tell you what I found down there. Then I moved to maintenance ... got some training in electrical, took some night courses [through RIT’s career services], then took the four year course, then took my masters test and passed it and now I’m a licensed masters electrician, all due to RIT.” Paula Guadeloupe, a senior custodian, was able to take English courses on RIT’s dime. Ten year RIT electrician Ryan Crittenden elaborated, “Any trade-specific type [courses], RIT is willing to pay for if it means doing our job better.”

Lynne Stocum cleaning in Sol Heumann
Eric Drummond

While RIT pays “competitive” wages, the reality is that the wages and benefits offered for entry level positions do fall fairly well within national averages. While this may not be the kind of living wage requested by the members of the USLA and the pro-union reps, it is a policy that was defended intensely by the workers themselves. A rarely reported benefit of working at RIT is the tuition waiver policy, which allows RIT employees to enroll themselves, their spouses and their children in RIT at discounted rates or for free, dependent upon the amount of years of service they have put in. There also exists a tuition exchange program that allows workers to take classes at MCC or other universities for free. These systems have allowed workers to put their entire families through school, amounting to millions of dollars of education put towards the interests of the employees. Some tuition waivers are tax free, further benefitting the employee. Of note is the fact that the rates for tuition waivers were changed so that workers hired on or after January 1, 2006 have to work a full five years before seeing any kind of benefit, while workers hired before then may be benefitting from other rates.

A sentiment that was often expressed was that the SEIU is another expensive level of interference that isn’t interested in the workers’ specific needs. John Hrmoi, a senior custodian and staff council member, commented, “I was with the UAW [United Auto Workers], and they did absolutely nothing. I don’t think we need a union at RIT.” Crittenden went on to say, “You know, it’s times like this, when people are getting laid off, when you do realize you have a strong leadership team. We’re [RIT] not in a crisis ... we’re going to weather this just fine, we’re going to have to tighten our belts a little ... but I’m happy to forgo a raise so we can keep our jobs.”

A revealing moment came towards the end of the panel discussion on Monday, when Bean was asked why “they [the USLA and ISO] were so passionate about the cause of the workers.” Bean responded by citing the current economy and the contemplation of their own careers as reasons for their empathy. Bean would later say, “When RIT needs to tighten its belt, it’s going to need to fire workers ... if RIT is such a great place to work, let’s keep it that way.” From their perspective, the potential advantages of collective bargaining are considered necessary in uncertain times. At the conclusion of the first panel discussion, it appeared that those opposed to the SEIU coming to RIT were the most numerous, if not the most vocal. The answers provided by Ott were speculative, as he was at the disadvantage of representing the possible yet unknown outcome of unionization.

Eric Drummond

Questions remain about the status of student employees under unionization, but all rumors are unconfirmed. However, the talk of collective bargaining, legal contracts and employee rights have indirectly shed light on many inner-management grievances that might have not otherwise received attention. The talks that were held on the sixth and ninth of April were as much education for employees about how to report grievances as they were information about unionizing at RIT.

The debate is not over. The local SEIU continues to get union cards signed, while those who do not think a union is necessary continue to be more vocal than ever. The talks continue, from the lips of President Destler to the open mouths of socialists outside the Wallace Library. In the middle of the talk is the worker, whose voice may come to collectively speak in the form of democratic process.

On Friday, April 10, SG voted unanimously to approve Resolution 0809-1, in which SG censured the formation of a union, citing that unionization was not necessarily in the best interest of students (see SG Update).