The Players

Hey everyone, welcome to our blog. I'll be updating you on our actions thus far in the near future, but for now lets do a little run down of the players involved here and what they can (and cannot) do.

SEIU 615: This is the local that represents the janitors at Tufts. The local itself represents about 16,000 building service workers throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. As I'm sure you know the Union is the bargaining representative for the workers at the table. They write up the ammendments to the current contract and the new clauses the workers and union would like to see in the contract and after this negotiations take place.

The Workers: Just because SEIU 615 is the official bargaining unit for the workers does not mean that the workers have no say in what happens. The rank and file must vote on the union's proposal, and the proposal is made up of suggestions from the workers themselves (plus some things that the union feel would be worthwhile to have that the workers might not think of). Some workers also sit at the table and take part in the negotiations, they are know as the bargaining team.

One Source/ABM: This is the company through which Tufts contracts its custodial staff. They sit opposite the union and workers at the table, and may present their own proposal of changes they would like to see in the contract. Although they are concerned with their workers, they are greatly concerned about their contract with Tufts. You might think that there is a standard overhead that they take which could be portioned out amongst the workers if One Source/ABM was willing to do so, but this is not the case. As a matter of fact the more benefits and wages that the workers receive, the more overhead One Source/ABM receives (its a percentage overhead based on the weighted hourly wages of the workers, which is their hourly wages plus the hourly cost of benefits they receive). Therefore they would be happy to ask for more, but can't as they do not want to lose their contract with Tufts.

Tufts University: Tufts university contracts out the labor from the workers employed by One Source/ABM, and therefore are not officially party to negotiations in any visible way. However, as the information about One Source/ABM shows, they do have a very strong influence on what happens at the table. At the end of the day, it is Tufts that controls the purse and Tufts that agrees to spend more money on certain things (such as higher wages, more sick days, more full time, etc.). Tufts current line is that it believes in the process of collective bargaining and that the two parties will reach a fair deal, but they will not take responsibility for their role in the bargaining process.

The Community: This is where all of you come in. Whether you are members of the Tufts community, the Somerville/Medford/Boston/Grafton community or you just care about this issue, you have the power to pressure the Tufts administration into taking responsibility for its workers. If you call or email president Bacow (617-627-3300 or lawrence.bacow@tufts.edu) and let him know that Tufts must take responsibility for its workers and prove that all their talk about social justice has to be backed up by action, he will listen. As the students are mostly gone over the summer it is up to the community to help out the workers on campus, so please get your community groups and your friends and neighbors involved in this cause. Have them call or email Bacow and let him know that you demand justice for janitors at Tufts!