Your turn: ‘Restore the job cuts and honor the contract,’ union leader says

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/Articles/Opinion/2007/10/12/21695/

Published Friday, October 12, 2007.

This letter is in response to the e-mail to the students sent by President McDavis on Oct. 4. President McDavis begins his e-mail with a trip down memory lane, commenting on the protests which occurred when he was a student.

The union and I are happy that he wished to revisit the Ohio University campus of his youth, with the beautiful grounds and the clean, sanitary and well-maintained buildings. I also recall the beauty of our campus when I attended Ohio University in the late ’70s, a campus unsurpassed in its cleanliness and beauty. Dining halls were open later and more days per week; the housekeeping staff was much larger, and classrooms were cleaned by an average of one custodian per floor per building. After the latest cuts, it is not unusual to have one custodian clean two buildings per night. The union wonders why this administration believes that today’s students deserve so much less.

President McDavis contends that only five to eight people were adversely affected by the layoffs. In September, at my request, the president and I sat down for a face-to-face meeting in his office. I recapped for him the number and the effects of the union job cuts. A total of 35 union jobs were abolished in the budget re-allocation: 11 jobs were vacant positions and 24 people were laid off. There have been over 50 bumps in these layoff problems. Fifty union members had their lives disrupted and were forced to change jobs, often to a lower classification, pay grade or job location. At least 18 people were bumped back to part-time work, lowering their salaries while raising the cost of their benefits (insurance, co-pay, etc.). Eight people took layoffs instead of part-time work.

When you add the layoff in December 2006 (one animal aide) and in July (one aircraft mechanic), to the 24 lay-offs in August, the resulting bumps have meant that some people have been bumped out of their jobs three times while others have been bumped four times. Union members are forced to drive from Athens to Zanesville to keep full-time jobs. Those bumped from full-time jobs in Zanesville are forced to drive to Athens to maintain part-time jobs. Remember, too, that it takes most people two to three years (sometimes more) to move from part-time work (utility worker) to full-time (custodian). Perhaps the president and his numerous vice presidents could understand the human toll if they were forced to begin their careers again and again, with part-time pay and benefits.

Four union housekeeping positions, seven maintenance positions, the weekend grounds position and nearly one-quarter of the custodial staff were eliminated, their jobs permanently abolished. Every Monday morning, the trash that is discarded all weekend is visible all over campus. It is wishful thinking to believe that the magnitude of these cuts will not affect the maintenance and cleaning services in the residence halls, classrooms, bathrooms and grounds.

It is most troubling that the re-allocated money is being used to expand an already bloated administration. Vice President Bill Decatur was hired to replace Larry Corrigan. Both are still on the payroll at a combined salary of $399,594 (plus benefits). Sherwood Wilson (salary — $128,000 plus benefits), the former Associate Vice President for Facilities, was let go in a “money saving move.” We were assured he would not be replaced. Two vice presidents now occupy his old job at a cost of $271,000 plus benefits. This is in addition to the hiring of a new Associate Vice President for Finance at a salary of $175,000 ($212,000 with benefits). These are but a few of the many examples the union could cite.

FULL story at link.