I'll be the first to admit that my dorm room is a mess. I've got clothes, shoes, and food wrappers everywhere, and it would probably take me a good ten minutes to find the TV remote. However, it's not just my room that is in this state. As a freshman, I live in Houston Hall with 280 fellow first-years. Maybe we are simply overeager to shed the rules and cleanliness of our homes, but I can assure you that we as a group are not exactly the neatest of people. I feel safe in claiming that our pattern of filth is common in many of the other dorms and buildings around campus as well.
On most nights, pizza boxes in the hallways and failed Easy-Mac attempts in the bathroom sinks are common sights. Boxes can be found strewn in the general direction of the recycling bins, and the carpets are dirty with the tracks of hundreds of students. But by the time we wake up, this filth is magically replaced by cleanliness and sanitation. Trash and recycling bins are empty (and sorted), the halls are clean, and the puke from the preceding night's festivities no longer stinks up the bathrooms. How is this magical spotlessness achieved, you might ask? The answer is simple: our dedicated and hard-working custodial staff.
Tufts' janitors are truly phenomenal. They are the ones that come in every morning and night while most of us are asleep and clean up our messes. They clean up our hallways and common rooms, picking up after us, and ensuring our dorms are livable. They separate the trash from the bottles and cans (that's right, part of the janitors' jobs is to go through the recycling bins, making sure there is no trash in the recycling and vice versa). They clean up the barf from our crazy nights, and they unclog our toilets. Our janitors do all this for us, and they do it all without being seen or heard. In return for their hard work, Tufts must reward the janitors handsomely, right? Yeah, sure.
Years ago, Tufts' janitors worked directly for the University. As such, they received many of the benefits given to all university employees. In 1994, however, the decision was made to outsource the janitors' jobs. By no longer hiring our janitors directly, Tufts avoided being responsible for their wages and benefits. Currently, the janitors work for a company called OneSource.
Under the current contract with this company, many janitors are denied basic health benefits for their families, and are given a grand total of zero sick days. Their wages are well below the national living wage, and many are forced to work two jobs to make ends meet. Those who work part-time are not paid wages on par with full-time workers, and many part-time janitors complain that they are not given the opportunity to work full-time even if they want to. Some will argue that because Tufts does not hire the janitors directly, the University is not to blame for the unfair contract. This, however, is simply not true.
While OneSource directly handles contract negotiations with the janitors, the Tufts administration still maintains a great deal of influence in the process. Due to the relationship between the University and this company, Tufts' ideas about the janitors' contracts are taken into account by both sides, especially One Source. It is therefore inaccurate to excuse Tufts from blame regarding their treatment of their janitors. In fact, the Tufts administration is directly at fault for the inhumane conditions under which most janitors work at their university.
When Tufts treats its workers the way it treats its janitors, it sends the wrong message to its students, faculty, and to the community at large. The University is, in essence, lying to the outside world. It claims to be a place in which faculty and staff will "have opportunities to realize their talents" (Tufts Mission Statement). But, when the school fails to pay its workers enough to even live on one job does it really give them fair opportunities? The hypocrisy of the situation is overwhelming. Tufts teaches its students that they are, in effect, more valuable as people than its janitors are. The administration spends thousands of dollars per year on each of its 5,000 students, but refuses to sufficiently pay or insure its janitors.
So, what can we, as students, do about this inequity? First of all, we can become more educated about the situation. We can talk to the janitors when we see them in the hallways. We can ask them about their lives, and find out exactly what they want in the upcoming contract negotiations and why, and try to look at the issue objectively.
The Tufts administration, for instance, tells the community that any increase in the janitors' salaries will come from increases in student tuitions. They fail to note, however, that the proposed changes add up to a grand total of an extra $37 per student. There are numerous opportunities on campus to learn more about the lives of the janitors who are such an integral part of the school. Student groups, such as the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) are working with janitors to make their concerns known. In fact, there was a teach-last night to make the janitors' situation more known to the community at large. The least we can do as students is to show some solidarity with the janitors who work tirelessly for us.
Mickey Leibner is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
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