A fair wage. A proper wage. A living wage. As OneSource and its employees are locked in negotiations, these synonymous-sounding terms in the complicated arena of salary negotiation, one word can make all the difference.
All custodians at Tufts make $11.45 an hour. This is above the Master Contract, an agreement reached for custodians who work in office buildings, malls and other locations in the Greater Boston Area, which pays a starting wage of $10.95 an hour for full-time work.
Tufts also pays above the Somerville living wage of $10.54. Though the figure applies only to city employees, it has served as an estimate for other industries.
Administration officials believe the University is meeting wages demanded by the current economy. "We think that the market defines need, including people at the universities," Director of Facilities John Roberto said. "SLAM [Student Labor Action Movement] and the Union [SEIU 615] would prefer that we compare at the university level. But we're comfortable comparing ourselves to the broader market."
But activists and workers question whether the current living wage standard is adequate.
"No, of course not," one janitor said. "There are an infinite number of things to pay for."
All quotations by janitors have been kept anonymous to protect their job security, and have been translated from Spanish by the writer.
According to Dick Baeur, member of the Somerville Living Wage Commission, it is "impossible in the greater Boston area for people to live on that amount of money."
The federal poverty line is used to compute this living wage, and is the same throughout the nation, and does not take into account the wide variations in costs of living throughout different regions.
There is no firm consensus on exactly how much money it really takes to get by in Boston.
The Massachusetts Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Project creates a regionally specialized estimate of living in Massachusetts, estimating a level that is adequate but "not luxurious or even comfortable."
For a family with two adults and one school-age child, the society's rate of $11.09 per hour is not far off from Tufts janitors' current wage of $11.45.
For other different family situations, this cost spikes far above the local living wage. With a single adult and a child in pre-school, the report estimates that $23.32 per hour is necessary. For two adults with three school age children, the situation of one of the janitors interviewed, $16.20 per hour per parent was necessary.
The self-sufficiency standard only includes day-to-day expenses, and does not include longer-term costs necessary for monetary or educational advancement. "We don't want to stay in this job that is so bad -- we don't want it," one janitor said. "But there is no other kind of work [if you don't speak English]"
Many want to take English classes or night classes to advance beyond their present job and wages. Janitors spend so much time working that scheduling and financing such endeavors is difficult.
"I studied at the University in my own country in the work of socioeconomic situations," one janitor said. "We had to change countries to the United States and I couldn't continue studying because there wasn't enough time to work two jobs and study."
Many janitors at Tufts work multiple jobs in order to support their families. One janitor, after working 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. overnight on the Boston Campus, has another part-time job until 12 a.m. the following day.
The children of some custodians begin working as early as 14 to help pay bills. "The fact is, if janitors are working two to three jobs at $11.45 an hour, if that itself can barely make ends meet, there is no way that this rate can be a living wage," SLAM coordinator Ariana Flores said.
The federal poverty line, from which the minimum wage stems, also does not include the cost of heath insurance. Some families or individuals may qualify for federally sponsored health programs such as Medicaid, but many working families do not.
OneSource supplies each full time employee $300 monthly to put toward the individual union health plan for insurance, which is provided by the Taft-Hartley Fund.
The family health insurance plan, however, costs $19 per week. As of Jan. 1, 2004, custodians began receiving $40 per month toward family healthcare, but this does not cover the entire cost of a family healthcare plan.
Janitors said it is difficult to find locations where they can get care. "The healthcare [plan] is the most horrible thing," one janitor said. "We prefer the central public clinics [federally sponsored]. Because we have jobs, we don't qualify. When we go to private doctors, we take out our [insurance] card, and they don't accept it."
"When I need healthcare, I have to pay [for it] myself," another janitor said.
Few Tufts OneSource employees receive full healthcare coverage. This situation is within the norm of skyrocketing healthcare costs in the United States, less and less of which are being covered by employers.
"Clearly the cost of healthcare has risen compared to inflation," Tufts economics professor Jeffrey Zabel said. "Employees are paying more and more out of pocket themselves. More employees get no healthcare, those that do are expected to pay more of the up-front cost."
Currently, part-time workers receive no health insurance, and many part-time workers have been waiting "three to four years" for a full time position so they can receive benefits, according to Irlanda Castillo, a janitor who works in Hill Hall. Castillo is a representative for SEIU 615, so she agreed to speak on the record.
While wages and benefits at Tufts are comparable to the general market, labor rights groups have challenged Tufts to rise above national trends.
"There is no reason why a humane institution with an emphasis on public service and equality should not be paying the janitors a better wage," physics professor Gary Goldstein said. Goldstein has been involved with previous campaigns for janitor's rights.
He added that "it's the university's job to demonstrate the humane values that it espouses."
