SLAM rally brings worker voices to administration

The Tisch Library steps and the academic quad became stomping ground for approximately 150 Tufts students, janitors and union workers who gathered for a SLAM rally on Friday.

Reminiscent or a protest two years ago, the Tufts' Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) headed a push for better wages and benefits for Tufts janitors.

Several speakers offered thoughts on the process amid the sounds of a siren, noisemakers, and chants. "Tufts is confused -- they think that people who remove trash probably are trash," Irlanda Castillo said. "We are people -- we have rights, beliefs, values, [and] family." Castillo has worked on the University's janitorial staff for seven years.

Students then led the demonstrators up the library steps and marched around the academic quad, chanting, "Tufts! Escucha! Estamos en la lucha!" (Tufts! Listen! We are in the fight!) The crowd stopped in front of Ballou Hall, in an effort to demand the attention of University administrators. After a brief speech, representatives were sent inside Ballou to deliver a petition to President Bacow with over 1,600 signatures in support of the cause. Bacow was in a conference call at the time and could not be reached for comment on the matter.

"It's frankly ridiculous. They don't make a living wage for Boston," freshman Mickey Leibner said.

"They have no sick days, no familial health coverage and no job security," senior Ariana Flores said.

Negotiations for a contract renewal are currently underway with OneSource, an independent contractor to which Tufts outsources its janitorial staff. The renegotiation represents an opportunity to improve employee benefits which are widely perceived to be inadequate. Though OneSource sets the terms for the contract, Tufts has the final say in whether it is approved.

Flores said that Tufts should "live up to its ideals and consider every member of its community. Regardless of their outsourcing they [should] pledge to maintain the wage and benefits packages." In addition, union organizer Roc?o Saenz noted that ten years ago, Tufts janitors received higher wages than they do now.

Rich Venvetti, a janitor who has been employed by Boston University for 20 years, compared Tufts' situation with that of his own school. "BU cares about its employees", he said. "Tufts is so far behind it's pathetic."

While thanking the assembled crowd for coming, Todis said she was "disappointed that not every student is here right now. As students, we're in a unique position to fight the administration on this issue."

Other students had mixed feelings about the protest. "I've never been to a protest before [this one], and I thought they were totally unproductive. But I hold custodians in pretty high regard," freshman Alex Bezdek said.

Union organizer Dan Nicolai said that some workers received calls from OneSource saying if "they came to the rally their jobs would be in jeopardy." He also spoke on behalf of Medford's state senator Charles Shannon who in a letter expressed his "extreme disappointment with OneSource." Shannon thought it below OneSource to "reap enormous profit by exploiting their workers" and urged them to come up with a more reasonable offer.

The same struggle and protest occurred two years ago and benefits were not improved, senior Laura Todis, who spoke at the rally, said. "This shouldn't be an issue each time."

After an hour, the march disbanded peacefully, but the demonstrators left the area with resounding cries of "we'll be back."

The janitors are part of Somerville's chapter of the Service Employees International Union, which represents a wide variety of employees including nurses, teachers and janitors.