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However, I
am not writing about relations between administration and faculty.
Actually, as I recollect memories of childhood when November was
stressed as a month of giving thanks, I am writing of the collective
relationship of administration, faculty, classified, and students with
our too often overbooked and much overlooked custodial staff.
Since I was
hired in fall, 1998, I have heard various versions of what makes GCC
unique—a family atmosphere, shared governance, being a "me too"
district, etc. I have also heard various theories on why GCC is a
college of choice for many of our students—academic excellence, transfer
rates, location, an active student government, etc. Last summer
session, I informally posed a related question to some eighty students
without a traditional "bubble-in" response sheet handy; I simply wanted
a free response to the inquiry, "Why did you chose GCC over other
CCs?"
Their number one answer—"The campus is clean."
We all recall that, in fall 2003, we faculty weathered a 10-12 percent
cut in classes, according to Steve White's office. Our fellow
classified survived a large cut in staff and potential unsavory bumps.
Even our administration took a small hit in workforce. Did you know
that over the last three years, according to Larry Serot's office, our
colleagues in custodial services are down eight full positions from the
previous level of staff (over 20 percent) and have taken an additional
$20,000 (45 percent) reduction in hourly workforce, yet not a reduction
in work? Let me repeat that, for no extra pay, our custodial staff are
responsible for much more work. I can imagine the outburst by the
faculty, classified, or administration if the shoe were on the other
foot. It appears that, over the last five or six years, we have grown
as a college, including buildings, faculty, classified, and
administration, yet we have not grown in custodial staff. Rather, we
have reduced. Is this fair?
I have taken an interest in
this inequity partly because I work my entire load in the evenings and
have much more contact with our custodial staff than a typical
instructor and mostly because it rightfully deserves our attention.
Interestingly enough, I rarely, if ever, hear an outburst from these
coworkers.
In fact, Larry Newberry and I have had several conversations during our
9-10 P.M. office hour Wednesday nights, and we agree that our custodial
workers are not only some of the most genuinely nice people here on
campus but also among the few who are overly appreciative for the
opportunity to work. We are certain that the vast majority of GCC
employees share our view.
I have spoken
with a handful of our custodians about this notion of "more work for
same pay." Averaging their responses, I come-up with roughly a 20-25
percent increase in responsibility, and this is not far from Larry
Serot's numbers. What this means is that in addition to their previous
work they are also required to provide services for an additional floor
or two in another building. They must work harder and faster to do
their previously assigned job so that they can reap the reward of
working on yet another building whose former custodian has not been
replaced. This was expressed to me as a matter of fact, not as a
complaint. Similarly, the non-biodegradable toilet tissue that was
supposed to save us money but instead flooded buildings was brought to
my attention not as a complaint but as a concern. Mentioned to me by
several of our graveyard coworkers was a fear that perhaps a language
barrier, a cultural difference, a work ethic structure, or a work-status
issue is the reason for the inequitable work situation. This was not
stated as a complaint, either. However, I am writing this article as
one.
A colleague of
mine in the math department gave me some great advice the other
day—"Refrain from complaining, Dave, unless you have a solution." I
couldn't agree more whole-heartedly. Aside from asking students not to
eat in our classrooms nor litter, here is my proposal, and I am certain
that others can envision even better ones. It was mentioned in last
month's
Chaparral that we faculty need to
make more use of our common eating area; I agree, with an additional
reason. Several faculty offices now have personal microwaves,
refrigerators, and coffee machines. As cautious as we may try to be, it
is highly probable that our offices, particularly the carpets, will need
cleaning more often, and, currently, for the most part, we are not the
ones doing the cleaning. Ten years ago I’m told we did not have such a
problem. In my opinion, we need to be responsible for our own office
clean-up. Perhaps we should look, again, at why students come here, and
include a bubble-in of "campus cleanliness" as an option. I spoke with
Ed Karpp, and he recalled that we had asked a related question
previously. It is true that, with budgetary constraints, we cannot
simply replace eight custodial positions immediately without other
action, so maybe we need to re-examine which GCC financial obligations
are not serving student needs and shift some funding to our custodial
services. As I looked over our budget for 2003-2004, I noticed that my
salary/benefits package alone would fully fund two new full-time
custodial positions. It is possible that our fellow CSEA union needs to
speed up the process of looking into what workload is undertaken by
custodial staff at neighboring colleges; workers I spoke with are very
appreciative that Nidal Kobaissi is currently conducting such a study.
Finally, as we grow, with respect to students and facilities, it is
imperative that we remember both who is behind the scenes here,
specifically late at night, doing an excellent job, as well as what kind
of support they need, in turn.
Meanwhile, please remember that
this is a month of giving thanks. Perhaps more of us could offer a
smile, simply wave hello, verbalize a heart-felt thanks, or leave a
holiday thank-you card in our offices, as most of us don't work late
enough to see our custodial staff, much less introduce ourselves. Share
your deep gratitude by giving what everyone needs in the cooler months
ahead—a little warmth.
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