Waving signs stating their opposition to the potential privatization of their jobs, Oxford Schools custodians gathered Tuesday outside the Meriam building in downtown Oxford to protest and raise awareness (see photo on Page 3).
‘Privatization is like a cancer and it’s going to spread,? said Daniel Axford Elementary custodian Barb Berlinger. ‘Once they privatize us, next is the bus drivers and then the kitchen help. And who knows who’s after that ? maybe secretaries and parapros.?
Berlinger’s worked for the district for 27 years, spending 20 of those at Daniel Axford.
‘I’m 55 years old and going to lose my job. It’s not right,? she said.
‘We’re out here spreading the word because evidently the public doesn’t realize what Oxford Schools is really doing around here,? said Oxford Middle School head custodian Lori O’Dell, Chapter Chair of Local 1472 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). ‘Some of us are husband-and-wife teams working in the schools. I’m (part of) one of them. We both lose our jobs, we have nothing.?
‘We were instructed that we’re not allowed to talk to parents about it and we’re not allowed to talk to the older students, like high school kids, about it,? Berlinger noted. ‘If we don’t talk about it to people, how are they going to know what’s going on??
O’Dell can’t believe the school board is voting on this next week considering the union and district have been negotiating ways to save money.
‘I thought we were negotiating in good faith, but it doesn’t seem to be that way,? she said. ‘We have been negotiating for a couple months. We took about $650,000 in concessions to them already and we’re not done negotiating.?
Most of the concessions, which included some from the schools kitchen and transportation staffs who are fellow AFSCME members, concerned health insurance and various days off due to illness, vacation, holidays and personal reasons.
‘We haven’t touched the wages yet,? noted O’Dell, who’s worked for the district for 23 years.
‘It’s not like we’re holding solid to what we have,? said Pashko Juncaj, a custodian at the middle school who’s been with the district for 12 years. ‘We’re willing to take concessions ? whatever it takes to keep everybody’s job. What else are you supposed to do??
Even though the school board hasn’t voted on the issue yet, O’Dell indicated she heard it was a done deal.
‘We heard today that our jobs are gone as of next Friday,? she said. ‘We were told that (Oxford Superintendent Dr. William) Skilling told the teachers at Clear Lake today that our jobs are done and we’re done next Friday . . . I heard it from four different people ? people I would believe for sure heard that out of his mouth.?
‘It is absolutely not true,? Skilling replied. ‘I have no idea where they heard such a thing. I never made any such statement . . . If the board decides to privatize on Monday, the custodians would still be working until June 30.?
The custodians are not happy with Skilling and they blame him for what’s happening to them.
‘That’s who pretty much controls everything,? Juncaj said. ‘He’s only been here three years and he’s just making a mess out of the whole thing.?
‘That’s not the way it’s supposed to be,? Berlinger noted. ‘The superintendent’s supposed to be working for the school board, not the school board working for the superintendent.?
Unlike top school administrators who move from district to district, the custodians said they’re a daily constant in students? lives.
‘We’ve been here for years and they come and go all the time,? O’Dell said. ‘We’re here with the kids from the time they start school until the time they finish.?
Felicia Hicks, staff representative for AFSCME Council 25 Local 1472, is definitely opposed to the district’s proposed privatization of custodial services.
‘Cutting those positions would be detrimental to the community because a great portion of them actually live in that community and actually have children that (attend school in) the district itself,? she said. ‘The people who work in Oxford live in Oxford, so they are your customers and your residents as well as your employees. And when you take them out of (the district’s employ), you disrupt everything that deals with them on that level.?
Even if they were rehired by the private firm, the custodians would be making $9-11 per hour and they would be required to pay for health insurance and retirement benefits. To Hicks, that’s simply not enough for someone to live on.
‘Nine dollars an hour in today’s world is no money to provide for (a family) or to pay a mortgage on,? she said. ‘We’re looking at people probably clearing in their checks maybe $200-$250 a week at max and not being able to provide for their family.?
‘They can’t live off of those wages,? Hicks noted. ‘Those people who live in Oxford will no longer be able to afford to live there. They’d have to move.?
In that way, Hicks said privatization will ‘increase the home foreclosure rate? and decrease the amount of state revenue the school district receives as the children of custodians leave the area.
Privatization also means the school district will have no say concerning the custodians, according to Hicks.
‘The district’s going to lose all governance and control of its employees,? she said. ‘They’re going to have to go through a third-party to get the information they need or to make changes within the district that they automatically have control over right now.?
Hicks noted that Oxford’s existing custodians do ‘so much more? than cleaning ? services she said won’t be performed by the private company.
‘Cleaning isn’t all that they do,? she said. ‘Our custodians do light maintenance work as well.?
Because the private firm is just a cleaning company, Hicks asked, ‘What happens to all of the maintenance aspects? Is that work going to be outsourced as well and what’s the cost associated with it? Are they really saving what he says they’re going to save on paper? I seriously doubt it.?
Hicks characterized privatization as an ‘epidemic.?
‘It’s not just in Oxford,? she said. ‘It’s going on in several school districts across the state and it’s really causing a decline in our economy and pushing us more into a depression than a recession in the state of Michigan.?
Hicks urged the public to take action at the April 26 school board meeting.
‘I would implore the community to come out, get involved and know what’s happened,? she said. ‘If higher foreclosure rates, higher unemployment rates and a negative impact on their school district is what they want, then they do want the private company. If it’s not, then they need to come out and support those people ? their neighbors, their friends, their families ? that are being impacted by this whole concoction of privatization.?