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University of Miami to Review Worker Wages, Perks

Posted on: Friday, 24 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Niala Boodhoo and Noah Bierman, The Miami Herald

Feb. 24--Just days before its janitors vote whether to strike, the University of Miami said it would conduct a thorough review of compensation and benefits for all contract employees working on its campuses.

The university had previously maintained that it was a neutral party in the fight between Unicco Service Co., the Boston-based contractor it uses for the school's janitorial staff, and the Service Employees' International Union, the labor group that has been trying to organize the workers.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, President Donna Shalala said the university could no longer remain "quiet or idle while our integrity is called into question by the people we hold dearest."

"The university is fully aware of its role in continuing to provide a good work environment not only for its own employees but also for employees of outside contractors working on its campuses," she said. A UM spokeswoman declined further comment on the issue, saying Shalala's statement should stand on its own.

In its organizing campaign that began months ago, the SEIU has said the workers face unsafe working conditions, are poorly paid and have no health benefits. The university has said the workers are paid on average $7.43 an hour.

SEIU spokeswoman Renee Asher said Shalala's statement was welcomed, but that the vote to authorize the strike was still planned for Sunday.

In a union statement, janitor Nelson Hernandez, who has worked at the university for 25 years and makes $6.80 an hour, said: "I was here the first time the university formed a committee to talk about our wages. I was making barely over minimum wage then, and I still am now."

UM labor law professor Michael Fischl said he was heartened but also disappointed that it has taken so long. Faculty members first raised the issue in 2001, after The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the school's janitorial wages rated next to last, below the poverty level, among 195 universities it surveyed.

Many professors, including the Faculty Senate, have been important allies for organizers. Thursday, about 40 organized a public lunch for Unicco workers on the university center patio as a show of support ahead of the strike. Traci Ardren, an anthropology professor, says she is among dozens who will move their classes to churches or other off-campus sites if there is a strike.

Students have also been active on the issue, bringing unusual pressure at a school not known for its political activism. "This current response is woefully inadequate," said Jacob Coker-Dukowitz, a student activist leader, who complained that the committee lacked faculty representation.

Those faculty and students have made the union's organizing efforts awkward for Shalala, who advocated for universal healthcare while heading Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration.

She also just made the university the first in Florida to raise $1 billion in a single campaign.

The criticism rose to the national level following a New York Times Magazine article two weeks ago in which Shalala talked about living in the 9,000-square-foot official president's residence in Coral Gables, her hybrid Lexus SUV and her "worst recent purchase" -- a 29-foot boat that seats 12.

That garnered a mention in a Washington Post column on Wednesday telling her that when she is involved in labor disputes, she should skip the "luxury home profile." Blogs also took her to task.

The working group, which is to report to Shalala in 30 days, will focus on collecting data on wages, health care benefits and market rates for comparable positions.

The final product will be "the basis for a plan of action for the future," Shalala said in the statement.

Unicco spokesman Doug Bailey said the company was very supportive of the working group and would provide data from its own periodic reviews of wages, benefits and market data to the university.

UM Religion professor Stephen Sapp said the Faculty Senate was also delighted.

"I think stepping beyond the position that's been enunciated up to this point is a pretty big step," said Sapp, who is first vice chair of the Faculty Senate.

By Niala Boodhoo and Noah Bierman.

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TM,

Source: The Miami Herald

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