Tennessee Tech Caucus

Josie McQuail, TTU Professor of English and Communications, hands out UCW Campus Voices during the shift change at Facilities Services. 

********************FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*******************

UCW-CWA welcomes news of TTU President Bell’s announcement that campus custodians can return to their regularly scheduled first shift, effective immediately!

December 1, 2010

For the past month, Tech custodians working in academic buildings have been struggling to make it through the night shift. With just 10 days notice to shuffle their home and work lives, custodians were ordered to switch from their regularly scheduled shift to third. Many even forced to quit one of their jobs to accommodate the new scheduling.

Faculty, staff, and students alike began speaking out against this shift change:  collecting petition signatures, contacting administrators, and writing to the media about their concerns. Most importantly, an increasing number of TTU employees have begun organizing a chapter of United Campus Workers – CWA, Tennessee’s higher education union.

On Monday, November 29 at a Faculty Senate meeting, TTU President Bell announced that custodians would be moved back to their normal shifts starting Dec. 1. “I really believe these changes occurred because of an overwhelming collective response from the campus community,” says a concerned Tech staff member. While the custodians and their allies couldn’t be happier about getting back to their normal work schedules, the issue is not yet resolved, as budget cuts are still looming.

Many saw this as a clear first step towards privatization—outsourcing the cleaning of campus buildings to a private company—leaving the most vulnerable and underpaid campus workers without jobs or benefits. “We are loyal and hard working employees. If we get laid off, we’ll lose our lives, our insurance, everything. What are we supposed to do?” asks an affected employee.

“The good news is that the administration has reversed course and is permitting the custodians to return to their regular shifts”, says Jon Jonakin, a faculty member present at the Nov. 29 meeting. “The bad news is that outsourcing is the preferred option of the administration and has been all along. We need to come up with an alternative policy that spreads the pain more equitably, because that’s just what we’re dealing with here--pain.”

Administrators admitted that budget cuts are what prompted the shift changes in custodial services. UCW has been fighting budget cuts to TBR and UT schools at the state legislature for the past three years.  “An investment in education will help our state recover; cuts will have the opposite effect. With tax revenues the highest we’ve seen in the past three years, the last thing our state needs are more layoffs that put people out of work and take money out of our economy,” says UCW President Tom Anderson.

United Campus Workers is a union of nearly 1,200 higher education staff and faculty across the TBR and UT system schools. We are a voice that protects the rights and interests of all employees on our campuses and in the legislature. Join Us!