Union President Weighs In on Sodexo Decision
Yesterday, the Collegian spoke with Robert Smith, president of UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) Local 712, Kenyon’s maintenance union. Here’s some of what he had to say about the College’s decision, his union’s reaction and their upcoming negotiations:
We hadn’t heard any rumors. We were never approached by the company saying they were thinking about doing this or anything. It was just kind of dumped in our lap.
A lot of our guys have been here for a long time, and they’re just sickened by it. Sickened to the point that you have a problem putting one foot in front of the other.
It’s just shocking to me that they would even invite a company like that on campus to give them a quote in the first place.
We’re assuming, at least, that we’re looking at deep cuts to benefits and wages through Sodexo. I don’t see how else this company can come in here and save the College the kind of money that Mark Kohlman says they’re going to save unless it’s through cuts.
The College has never really listened to the Union when we try to give advice — how you can do things better, how you can save money. But I’m hoping that since it’s other people speaking up now, alumni speaking up, maybe they’ll have to listen to them.
Certainly a lot of our guys are talking about [it]: If this is the way Kenyon feels about us and the way they treat their employees, they don’t want to work here anymore.
I’m just disappointed that I’ve been here 27 years and all I’ve ever heard is how Kenyon is a community and how each person, even us people down there in the maintenance department, are part of this community and valuable.
It is with some amazement, again, that the union president talks like this. Frankly, in a deep recession like we are experiencing, the union should have approached management a long time ago and requested for a re-opener. At that time they could have proposed wage and benefit cuts, etc. But they chose to follow the union playbook which was to wait until the bitter end to “begin” negotiations. Management chose to go and get quotes finding out it was much less expensive to contract out. You dropped the ball union president and officers. Don’t cry now that the barn door is open and those horses of yours are trotting away down Rt. 36. And if they are sick – well- as you reenter the work force get used to more doses of reality. You could try picketing the college and see if the academics would cross your line. THAT could be problematic for the school.
I don’t think the half a million quoted are all salary and benefits-they have got to be other items like supplies. I would think the entire payroll of this dept isn’t a big part of the budget. Half of the maintenace employees aren’t union employees, so the above arguement doesn’t hold for them anyway. There are 11 that are non-union. 3 already decided to leave. So we are talking maybe 25 people total? And the college claims their salaries are going to be the same. One presumes Sodexo will have to extract that $ from Kenyon to pay the maintenance people so where can the savings be? Maybe their insurance will cost less? That could add up to maybe $10k a year in savings?
half a million in savings quoted by Pres. Nugent that should read.
The only one dropping the ball, Mitchell, is you. Nearly all of your posts have started from this default position that a business decision is always rational, while a labor stance is inherently greedy. Why? In the past year the university posted multiple stories detailing how flush the coffers are, how application rates are up despite soaring tuition, and generally how insulated the college has been from economic threats. They have literally stated the opposite of what you’re claiming here, and only now are they using what can be called the “recession defense.” Somewhere along the way it became in vogue to cite the downturn as a reason for cuts in hours, wages, and benefits, even if an organization has been mostly immune to it. You are applying the model of an auto manufacturer or a mom and pop bakery (who truly were affected) to a vastly different beast. If the product is tuition, and demand for that product rises in the face of a greater recession, then how is Kenyon in a place where it suddenly has to tighten its belt by outsourcing Maintenance? The answer? It isn’t, in all actuality, in such a position. The claim that the looming presidential election might affect how much the college can charge students (therefore impairing its revenue stream) is both nebulous and laughable. It’s the response of an institution without reasons.
You have to recognize that this is both about and much larger than Kenyon. The center of this country, the vast majority, continues to lose equity. There is a direct correlation between this loss and the decline of unions. Every time I hear someone complain about how organized labor is corrupting this or that process, or asking for too much, I think about the alternative, which is a wasteland of ten dollar an hour jobs and lackluster benefits. This decision, coming from the highest orders at Kenyon, seeks to trim $500,000 a year by taking equity away from tens of workers. The combined annual salaries of the top two officials making this decision is in excess of $600,000. If you want to champion a cutthroat mentality, if you want to say that few should prosper by sacrificing others, then by all means go ahead. But that sort of chest-thumping social Darwinism only lasts until some employer comes for you, and you find yourself wondering where it all went wrong.
Seriously, combined salaries of 600,000?
If you want to talk about benefits then why don’t you ask the President. Her salary and extra’s cost the College over $500,000.00! You also forget as she says there are always two sides to every story! The Union has been willing to negotiate! They have, as Bob Smith stated, made suggestions for cost savings that have gone to deaf ears! It is those deaf ears that make $600,000.00 plus!
It would indeed be amazing for a local union to volunteer to re-negotiate a contract mid-stream, just so that the union could offer unasked-for concessions. This isn’t the UAW and GM, where the union is kept in the loop for just such a purpose. These are the guys who re-key Kenyon’s locks.
Accordingly, the union waited to negotiate until… the scheduled date for the opening of negotiations. And that’s when they got the news.
I don’t mean to pry, but do you have a job? There’s a recession on, you know, and there’s probably someone out there willing and able to do your job for less. Have you approached your boss about reducing your salary and benefits?
An alum asked the bookstore if they could add a window sticker to their online offerings. This is what the bookstore runs up against because of outsourcing: “Folks, we submitted data to add decals to our website eight (business) days ago. We’re waiting for the vendor to process the submission. It’s half processed at this moment Yes, we agree: eight days is outrageous; we are hamstrung by our systems. We have been both harassing the vendor and searching for alternatives”
This could easily be a common scenerio when Sodexo comes to town.
As it was at the SUNY’s.
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Sodexo-Settles-Claim-with-SUNY-Schools/CsAaPlxro023mDCfXPmnKg.cspx
In 10 years, 10 children of 100 maintenance personnel were high achieving, smart students who were able to get into GLCA colleges — I think that’s actually a stunning statistic and shows the wealth of talent and genius among our staff’s children — talent and genius that will benefit the USA more generally if it is nurtured. Some of Kenyon’s most accomplished students have come from these blue collar workers’ children who otherwise would be hard-pressed to be able to enter the ranks of elite colleges otherwise. I think that is a significant achievement on Kenyon’s part. Tuition remission is an easy way for upward mobility. Without it, there are so many talented people who will not be able to fully use their abilities. Paul Newman thought upward mobility was so important he dedicated a large donation to that effort — a donation that has significantly changed the representation of first generation students among Kenyon’s students. The United States needs all the talent it can get. I believe that it is important for Kenyon to see how other schools retain this benefit for their blue (and pink and white) collar workers. Ten tuition remissions in a decade can’t possibly break Kenyon’s bottom line, and it provides untold benefits to our community and the wider community, and puts Kenyon’s values in action.
Here here. I have been so impressed with the letters written by affected workers. It seems the only people on Kenyon’s campus who could afford the pricetag w/out an financial assistance is the president herself. Kenyon could offer the waiver outside of the GLCA tuition remission program, because these folks will no longer be eligible. Grandfathering in only the current workers will not help new hires.
I am Rod Ewers,electrician, U.E 712 member, and most importantly, a community member. There has been a lot of misinformation that the administration has put out. I am not going to add to that misinformation, What I am about to say is mostly my opinion. I will also clearly point out some facts. The administration likes to use the word community a lot. I believe they use the word community more as a sales pitch, and don’t truly know what Kenyon’s community is about. The have alienated themselves from this community. It is sad they are so complacent and uncaring about what goes on here. my opinion is they never have been part of this community. It’s always what they think is best for them and not the community. What they have done for Kenyons community is cause anger, distrust, and hardships to loyal dedicated families that belong to this community. I just want to mention a few of those familes that belong to this community. Shirley Lepley, Don Omahan, George Barbutos, Jack Finefrock, and don’t forget the whole image of the bookstore, just to name a few. More recently a handful of people in this administration has decided the fate of nearly 100 hardworking, loyal, and dedicated people of this community. The President said in a faculty meeting Wednesday June 13th, 2012 in front of around 100 faculty members that “she has never sold people down the river before.” WOW….. In closing I just want to say “Thank You” to the community. You obviously and overwhelmingly support us and this community. Hard times almost always will make us stronger in the end.
It caught my attention earlier that the post on Kenyon Today about Friday’s forum invited ‘alumni, current administrators, staff and faculty, as well as students.’ You’ve just made it clear why the word current was used. Before the actions of the last few years, there would have been no thought to actively not invite past employees to an open campus forum.
Ones child must be accepted at one of the GLCA colleges to get the GLCA tuition remission program benefit. No an easy task, so why not allow those IN THE UNION that have been accepted continue to get the GLCA tuition remission program benefit until graduation? The Grandfather Clause will only apply to SUPERVISION and not LABOR from what I’ve researched!!