New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Furloughed New Haven school custodians unsure of future
About 160 part-time custodians won’t be returning to work for 6 weeks
NEW HAVEN — When Maurice Little lost a critical source of income, it happened suddenly.
Little, who works full-time as a bridge tender for the city, earns roughly $1,000 each month working as a school custodian in the mornings at Wilbur Cross High School.
“It’s going to be a financial strain,” he said.
About 160 part-time custodians — who work for Eco-Urban Pioneers — learned on Friday that they wouldn’t be returning to work for six weeks once the school district made a determination that buildings did not need to be cleaned thoroughly while students learn virtually for 10 weeks.
New Haven Public Schools Facilities Manager Joe Barbarotta said the district intends on paying more for custodial services once students return to schools.
Although Little works from 8 a.m. to noon, Barbarotta said the usual morning shift is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; once students return, the district will add an hour to that shift with a heavy focus on disinfecting bathrooms and hightouch points. There will be an extra hour at night, as well, for the late shift. He said it is projected to be an extra $840,000 in costs for the school district from November through to the end of the year.
Although there is a promise
that there will be more hours in the long-term, Little said being furloughed has left him questioning his ability to pay bills in September and October. He said he has received no guidance or clarity on whether he is entitled to benefits because he has a full-time job.
On Saturday, custodial union leadership met with leaders from the city and Eco-Urban Pioneers. During that meeting, the initial expectation that custodians would be out of work for 10 weeks was reduced to six weeks.
“We’re still grieving the fact that workers were given short notice,” said Alberto Bernardez, district leader of 32BJ SEIU, which represents the custodial workers employed by Eco-Urban Pioneers.
“People are sacrificing and putting themselves at risk, working throughout the summer without hazard pay,” Bernardez said. “The idea they’re out for a number of weeks, that’s very unfortunate from our perspective.”
Bernardez said that for many workers like Little, it takes more than one check to survive in a state like Connecticut.
Some teachers and principals continue to work from their buildings. Chief Operations Officer Michael Pinto said the decision may be reversed if school officials deem it necessary.
“If there are issues of current staff falling behind, we will bring on additional Eco-Urban workers on,” he said.
Under the district’s agreement with Eco-Urban, the company gets paid for its services up-front, then the company staffs custodial shifts accordingly. Pinto told the school board that the school district continues to pay Eco-Urban Pioneers.
Eco-Urban Pioneers owner Shafiq Abdussabur did not return multiple requests for comment.
“Eco-Urban is a contractor for the Board of Education, so part of the responsibility is on the Board of Education,” said Bernardez. “We are concerned that every time they want to save some money they look at this group of workers.”
School board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur wondered whether furloughing custodial workers might mean the district risks losing members from the workforce before they need to take disinfecting buildings very seriously.
“If we don’t have additional staff that are furloughed, do we have enough janitorial staff to finish all the cleaning and getting all the buildings ready?” she asked.
Barbarotta and Penn said the district intends on hiring more workers, but Bernardez said it’s a possibility that custodians will look for work elsewhere.
“If you have been working all these years and throughout the pandemic and suddenly somebody tells you, ‘I don’t need you,’ without a serious discussion of the consequences, you wouldn’t trust that kind of employer,” he said.
Little said he was approached Tuesday about returning to work, but the shift being offered was incompatible with his full-time job.
“Hopefully they’ll have some morning positions somewhere in the school system where they can use somebody,” he said.