UW custodians hope new chancellor helps in dispute
Some custodians who work on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus are upset with recent changes in the start time of their shift, and are hoping incoming Chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin can do something about the situation.
Last week, second-shift custodians on the UW-Madison campus started reporting to work at 6 p.m. For the previous 30 years or so, the second-shift start time had been 5 p.m. The work day now ends at 2:30 a.m. for those workers, where it previously was over at 1:30 a.m.
"It seems like a minor change, but it really can impact peoples' lives," said Randy Brink, president of Local 171, the union which represents 1,600 blue collar, technical and security workers on campus. "For one thing, a lot of our custodians have second jobs. For another thing, people have transportation and child care issues. So we would like to make this change as gradual and as painless for our members as possible, while still meeting the needs of our university."
To make their point known to Martin, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 171 will hand out leaflets Tuesday evening at a reception being hosted at Olin House, the official residence of Martin. The get-together is for those working in UW-Madison's Facilities Planning and Management department.
"These custodians really work hard for us and we respect and depend on them to keep our campus going," said Al Fish, Madison's vice chancellor for facilities planning and management. "We really thought this shift change would make our productivity, with the same amount of people, improved. And I'm pretty confident that it will.
"At the same time, we have some people who are saying this isn't working out for them. So, we're going to see why that is and see if the trade-off makes a difference."
Fish said there were two main reasons behind the changing of the second-shift start time.
First, UW-Madison was looking for a better way to handle big snowfalls in the winter. With the second shift starting at 6 p.m., fewer cars will be in parking lots and fewer people will be on sidewalks than at 5 p.m. -- thus making it easier to clear snow. The 6 p.m. start time also gives a greater overlap between the second and third shift, which runs from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.
"When we're fighting 100-plus inches of snow and ice, we think that four-hour overlap (from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.) is going to give us a much better response both in quality and quantity, without having to pay overtime," said Fish.
Secondly, Fish said the 6 p.m. start time should also make it easier for custodians to clean halls, rest rooms and lobby areas more efficiently, as buildings typically are less crowded after 6 p.m., compared to after 5 p.m.
Brink, however, said he wasn't buying the UW's line of logic.
"Eight hours of shoveling snow is eight hours of shoveling snow, no matter when you start," said Brink. "Also, sometimes it's better to start cleaning a building when people are still around. They can tell you what needs to be cleaned up or tell you what not to touch."
Brink says any starting time changes are supposed to be negotiated with the union.
Brink, who has worked as an animal research technician on campus the past 23 years, noted the union has put forth a proposal that would allow UW-Madison to facilitate its second shift change over time. Local 171 is asking UW-Madison to allow custodians to chose a start time between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Then, each time a new job is posted due to turnover, management could list the new start time as 6 p.m.
"We're hoping with the new chancellor that there might be a window of opportunity to do things differently, and to not have such a contentious relationship with the UW," said Brink, who admitted that about a third of the custodians have no problem with the 6 p.m. start time. "We want her to be aware that our people are really upset about this."
Brink said the union plans to appeal the second-shift start time decision to arbitration, but that process could take up to a year.
"Like anything, our relationship with our employees is always a dialogue," said Fish. "We're listening to them and we will continue to evaluate this as we listen to feedback from our staff along the way. So we think there are really good reasons to do this, but it is a change and we'll keep the dialogue open with our staff."
