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BC shows no interest in new union proposal

By Tue Tran, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, on December 7, 2009 2:19 PM

By Tue Tran, Co-Editor-in-Chief -

Union contract negotiations are still ongoing, as the Boston College administration extended the union’s contract one more month to Jan. 1. Discussions have intensified, according to John*, a grounds worker who wished to remain anonymous due to the possibility of disciplinary action.

The latest development, according to the workers, was an offer from the union to remove Article 16 4C from the contract, which establishes double overtime pay for the seventh consecutive day of work. This was in an effort to help BC achieve its goal of being cost-effective, while still being able to keep Article 18.

BC declined to comment on the details of what proposals are being discussed. According to workers, BC showed no interest.

Article 18 is the main issue of contention, as it limits BC’s ability to contract outside workers. The BC administration, as John stated, wants to be able to hire other workers for “special events” but they do not want to define exactly what “special events” would include.

It is not that the union workers do not want any outside help with tasks — BC does currently contract out some work, including snow removal after a certain amount of snowfall.

Their fear is that BC would then be able to hire non-union workers without limit, to weaken the union and possibly even rid BC of the union further down.

“If Article 18 is removed, they will never hire another full time union worker,” John said.

“They want to weaken the union and have a contingent workforce after people leave,” Kevin* said, who also spoke anonymously.

Bob Lewis, the Assoc. Vice President of the Department of Human Resources, denied this assertion, classifying those who believe BC will no longer replace workers who have left as “misinformed.”

Since the beginning of the monthly contract extensions, workers said that BC has not hired any full time workers to replace those who have recently retired, been unable to work due to injuries, and passed away.

According to John, BC allegedly contracted outside workers on Nov. 13, 23, and 24, and a grievance has been filed, claiming that this was in violation of the existing Article 18.

Lewis stated that he was not sure of the situation referenced.

“However, if we violated the contract, the union has the right to grieve the matter and bring it to arbitration before a neutral party,” Lewis said, in an email.

Another fear that some have of the situation is that the decrease in full-time, union workers will cause BC to be less safe, with BC not checking the backgrounds of those non-union workers. All union workers go through thorough background checks.

“When you visit our campus, we want to make sure that you are safe,” John said.

Lewis, however, stated that BC would remain just as safe. “Companies we contract with do background checks,” he said. “We have no intention of putting contract cleaners in dorms in any event.”

Kathleen Sellers, STM ’14, who has been helping to organize the student effort, said that she would like to know why the BC administration has rejected the proposals the union has made in an effort to help BC meet its bottom line.

“It has been my understanding that both parties in negotiation are trying to save the University money, and that these proposals were intended to do that,” Sellers said. “I would like to hear from the University what their rationale is for not having accepted these proposals. There seems to be more to the story than is yet clear.”

John believed that the manner in which BC has come to the negotiating table could be considered an unfair labor practice with legal ramifications.

“We feel that this is not a negotiating style,” John said. “It’s a flat-out bullying style. BC is not trying to negotiate with us. … We’ve been the only ones making movement.”

Lewis was optimistic about how this issue will be resolved.

“I am positive about the outcome. We will work this out somehow. There is always middle ground,” he said.

While the uncertainty and their treatment by the BC administration are strenuous to the workers, John said, they still do their job and love being a part of BC.

“We consider ourselves members of the community, whether [the BC administration does] or not,” he said.