Portland School Board discards 300 custodial jobs

By DON McINTOSH, Associate Editor

For custodians of Portland Public Schools (PPS), the July 8 school board meeting was the end. After two hours of testimony and debate that ranged from spirited and emotional to bitter and personal, the board voted 5-2 to fire its 300 custodians and contract out their jobs to Portland Habilitation Center (PHC).

By the end of the week (July 12), PPS had signed a $9.6 million one year contract with PHC.

The board vote came six months after Interim School Superintendent Jim Scherzinger proposed a $4.5 million cut in the $15.6 million a year custodial budget, based on a calculation of what the district would save if it contracted out. For months, board members assured custodians that their March 18 approval of Scherzinger's budget wasn't the end, since outside contractors would have to be found, and a contract approved by the board, and above all because contract negotiations were under way with their union, School Employees Local 140, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

In those "negotiations," the administration demanded the union accept the entire $4.5 million cut in wages and/or benefits, refusing to budge from that figure even as custodians agreed to accept $900,000, then $2.4 million, in concessions.

"I've never seen a negotiation like that," said Local 140 President Grant Walter. But then, Walter said, he'd never negotiated with human resources chief Steve Goldschmidt, who has a reputation among school employee unions in other districts for brick-wall bargaining.

"The administration did not put a dime on the table," said board member Derry Jackson, who voted against the proposal to contract out. "I don't want to be a part of that kind of negotiation."

Because it refused to cave in to the school district's demands, the custodial bargaining unit is now being replaced by an outside contractor that employs people with mental and physical handicaps.

Under a state "set-aside" law, public agencies must first consider Qualified Rehabilitation Facilities (QRFs) if they decide to contract out janitorial work. To be considered a QRF, 75 percent of a company's labor hours must be performed by workers who have mental or physical disabilities. Just two such organizations bid on the PPS contract: Tualatin Valley Workshop, which said it could do the work for $14 million, and PHC, which bid $9.6 million. Among those PHC counts as disabled are workers injured on the job, HIV/AIDS patients, rehabilitated alcohol and drug addicts, and workers with minor physical, mental and psychological disabilities.

Though PHC is a non-profit, it operates like a company, with divisions in landscaping, clerical, and janitorial services, each of which bid for revenue-generating contracts. Among building maintenance companies, PHC is the third-largest in the Portland area by square footage serviced, and the second largest by employment, with over 300 janitors. Its two dozen custodial contracts earned $17.7 million in 2001. Its largest contracts are Portland International Airport, Portland State University, and Oregon Health and Science University. PHC has only one contract with a private company, representing less than 1 percent of its revenues.

With the PPS contract, PHC's custodial division will nearly double. There aren't enough disabled workers to meet the demand for a contract that large - 318 custodians and 11 supervisors trained and deployed by September. Thus, Debra Houston, PHC vice president of building maintenance, told the school board that PHC will have a "phase-in" period during which it will hire any workers while it hunts for more employees with disabilities. Houston said the company is scouring "One Stop" employment centers and vocational rehabilitation sites for candidates.

"We will accept applications from current custodians, but they will have to run through our security check requirements like everyone else," Houston said.

Local 140's Walter said there was no chance of that - custodians would earn more on unemployment benefits than at PHC.

Scherzinger said the contract requires that each school will have a lead custodian who will assure that duties such as opening and closing buildings, assisting with after-hours functions and emergencies, cleaning up spills, and conducting security lockdowns are performed. All PHC employees will receive training and will have the same background checks as other district employees. PHC will be required to meet these provisions or lose the contract.

PHC janitors are unionized. They belong to a sister local, SEIU Local 49. But compensation is much lower for janitors covered under the Local 49 master agreement: $9.50 an hour, plus some medical benefits, and an employer pension contribution that amounts to $300 a year.

Houston admitted to the board that the savings in contracting with PHC come from lower wages and benefits. After board members questioned the interim superintendent and Houston, it heard comment from a very agitated public.

Sixteen-year custodian Richard Kreitz, his voice choked with emotion, described how long it had taken him to learn his job well, and pleaded with the board not to eliminate the custodial staff.

Custodian Mark Schnorr and others promised retribution to those who would vote to contract out. "Six months is a hell of a long time to have your life hanging by a thread," Schnorr said. "I'm tired. I'm wore out. And I'm angry."

Some took personal shots at the elected board members, calling them out-of-touch millionaires, accusing them of nepotism or hidden motives, blaming them for the September suicide of a custodian, or charging betrayal in the case of Lolenzo Poe, who accepted campaign contributions from Local 140 last year.

At one point, two police officers moved forward in the room as Chad Debnum, chair of the School Civil Service Board, refused to limit his comments to three minutes and shouted to an approaching school security officer not to touch him. Debnum said he had served for a decade without any recognition or gratitude from the board, and he wanted to be heard when he said contracting out was the wrong thing to do. [Local 140 filed a legal challenge to contracting out, on the basis that it violates a state law requiring civil service standards for hiring. Debnum's board agreed with the union, but its decision was overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals. The union lost similar arguments in Circuit Court and before the Oregon Employment Relations Board.]

As the period for comment ended and board members prepared to vote, each took a moment to explain their position. Most argued from necessity: The State Legislature handed the district a $36 million shortfall for the 2002-03 school year. Board members Karla Wenzel, Debbie Menashe, Sue Hagmeier, Lolenzo Poe and Julia Brim-Edwards argued that it was either contract out custodians or make further cuts to the classroom, after they had already approved the closure of two elementary schools, increased class sizes, and trimming school days to the point that PPS has the shortest school year in the country. Hagmeier said it was the most difficult decision she'd made in seven years on the board.

Derry Jackson and Marc Abrams voted against the proposal.

"You don't privatize what you do every day," Abrams said. "You don't pay less than a living wage. You don't unilaterally disarm economically, because you don't save in the long run if you do. And you don't trade the known for the unknown."

Jackson warned that district will be beholden to one organization, and that trading family wage for minimum wage hurts tax rolls.

What's left for Local 140? The local will still represent PPS cafeteria workers, but the district has said it will look later at contracting out food services as well.

For years, Walter and others at Local 140 had sounded the alarm that the district was planning to contract out, a claim administrators repeatedly denied. After the proposal to contract out custodial work was made public in January, Local 140 tried numerous tactics to stop it. For six months members rallied and packed school board meetings and budget hearings with supporters: members, parents, teachers, community members, and other unionists. They filed lawsuits. They hired a financial consultant who found numerous flaws in the district's financial calculations. They barraged the public with radio and print ads. They appealed to neighbors of the school board chair. None of these strategies seemed to shift the basic bent of the board.

"The board has made the worst decision they could have made," Walter said. "They'll be held accountable for it by their constituents. We will do our best to make sure that happens."

Oregon AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Brad Witt, who observed the final vote, said afterward that it was a sickening action that the local labor movement would never forget. "This was a vicious form of lifeboat ethics, when you toss overboard loyal, dedicated workers who had not only provided great service to their schools, but had always worked hard with their employer to cut costs, improve quality and win voter support for school funding levies."

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