Students say Fusco employee policies unfair

Though most Branford students have adjusted to living in the Swing Space, the custodial workers who have replaced Yale's standard blue-uniformed employees have begun to raise concern among students. The heavy hours worked by one particular employee of the Fusco Corporation, which Yale hired last year to maintain the Swing Space and Linsly-Chittenden Hall, have caused some students to question whether Fusco's "quality services" come at the cost of the well-being of its employees.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Fusco workers may not be getting the same benefits as Yale workers, some Branford students claim.

Currently, most Yale maintenance workers are unionized members of Local 35 and service every building on campus. However, during the construction of the Swing Space, Yale out-sourced some of its maintenance to the Fusco Corporation. So far, it has been well-received by both students and the Administration. "It has been pretty good," Rachel Dinerstein, BR '01, said of Fusco's upkeep of the Swing Space.

Some Branfordians, however, are concerned that the manner in which Fusco workers are treated is not equivalent to the conditions that Local 35 workers experience. "When I walk into Swing Space, I see only one man doing all of the work," Martha Bagnall, BR '00, said. "I've seen him working with a loud leaf blower with no protection for his ears and cleaning stairs without a mask to guard his face from the chemicals. It's really quite unnerving." Watching the worker endure a potentially harmful environment has led Bagnall and other Branford students, including Adam Gordon, BR '00, and Laurie Kennington, BR '01, to inquire into Fusco's policies to see how they compare with Yale's and those of Local 35.

The students discovered that the non-uniformed and non-unionized Fusco employees are paid around $8.50 per hour, whereas Yale workers have a starting salary of $10.05 per hour. Furthermore, while Yale's contract with Local 35 stipulates that jobs currently held by Yale workers cannot be given to non-Yale workers for at least ten years, Fusco employees do not have such a guarantee, given the unstable nature of outsourced work. "I'm proud that Local 35 and [Yale] provide such great support and I don't want to see that threatened," Kennington said.

Gordon, worries that the workers employed by Fusco "have no recourse against their employer. Fusco could just fire anybody," Gordon said. "Yale has a responsibility to guarantee anyone who works on campus a good job." Local 35 representative Meg Riccio believes that the outsourced workers should be unionized. "They work for so little and without benefits," Riccio explained. "It's very hard to get a job with benefits in New Haven, and Yale owes the community that. [Yale employees] are very service-oriented and are so dedicated to the students. How can you get that out of the other workers when they are so scared to lose their jobs?"

Kemel Dawkins, Yale's associate vice president of facilities, views Fusco in a more positive light. "[The hiring of Fusco] doesn't undermine our relationship with the union," he said. Dawkins was not aware of the students' allegations that Fusco's employees are possibly working under substandard health and safety conditions.

At press time, Fusco had failed to return the students' phone calls and e-mails expressing their concerns over the past few weeks. Fusco also did not reply to the Herald's inquiries.

Though Gordon and Kennington view Fusco's silence as a sign of disinterest, they are reluctant to draw any conclusions about Fusco until they can confirm their initial findings. In the meantime, they hope to inform other students of their concerns. "We're trying to get other students to agree with us that subcontracting is bad for Branford, bad for the University, and bad for Yale workers," Gordon said. He hopes eventually circulate a petition to "have union workers return to [the Swing Space]."

However, most Branford students currently "have not had enough information to form an opinion yet," Gordon said. Some students feel that the service provided by Fusco may outweigh internal problems within the company. "I'd care a lot more about the output than the actual [working] conditions, Andrew Niece, BR '01, said. "I don't see that unionization will benefit the community."

Ayon Nandi contributed to this article.

Back to News...