Financial crisis forces reduction in SEIU summer employment

The Vassar chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), known as Local 200, is protesting the lack of intersession employment available to service workers this summer. Responding to the global financial crisis, the College has cut the number of summer jobs by at least 20 positions.

Both Director of Campus Dining Maureen King and Vice President of Human Resources Ruth Spencer have stated that the deflated summer workforce is merely one symptom of the grim economic times, citing the numerous cuts being made to staffing and operation budgets across the board.

"It's not a matter of being insensitive to employees," said Spencer. "We are facing the current budgetary constraints that we have. Cutbacks exist all over the College—in every employee group." The members of Local 200, however, feel that the College should provide job opportunities despite the crisis. "In all the years that I have worked at Vassar, Dining Service employees remain employed for the summer months," said All Campus Dining Center (ACDC) Chef's Helper Cathy Bradford, who has worked for the College for 15 years. "The College is guilty of not caring about its employees and leaving them in limbo."

Local 200, which renewed its three-year contract in October following a lengthy negotiation period, is organizing a rally on May 1 to draw campus support for the food service workers. Local 200 comprises over 200 Vassar employees from Campus Dining and Buildings & Grounds (B&G). "The draconian measures [the administration is] taking against the people...have actually accelerated," said Local 200 Vice President Mike Lonigro at a panel hosted by the Vassar Green Party last week. "These extraneous measures that are being taken are not saving Vassar."

According to the contract, the 98 full- and part-time Campus Dining employees are scheduled to work throughout the academic year. Vassar's Dining Services, however, operate on a limited schedule during the 12-week intersession period in order to accommodate summer programs. The remaining food service employees are typically relocated to other departments, supplementing the B&G workforce in order to help clean dorm rooms and ready them for the next round of incoming students in the fall.

While the College is not contractually obligated to provide these jobs, section three of the SEIU contract states that "Intersession employment shall be first offered to all regular Union employees who are not assigned to work during these periods." The College must therefore use the unionized full-time workforce to its full capacity for intersession work before looking to alternatives such as union-exempt and sub-contracted workers.

In previous summers, at least 40 jobs outside of the Dining Services department have been made available for food service employees. These cleaning, painting and grounds maintenance jobs supplement to the year-round B&G workforce. Full-time workers typically fill these positions, leaving the remaining food service positions open to part-time employees. This year there have been significantly fewer job postings for supplemental B&G work; only four additional positions have opened up in grounds maintenance, and there have been no additional painters and general helpers hired this year.

B&G will be undertaking fewer projects this summer, due in part to residential facilities such as Josselyn House and the Terrace Apartments going offline. Therefore full-time workers have held on to the few available food service jobs while the remaining workers—including all part-time staffers—must seek work elsewhere.

Campus Dining has also authorized reductions in its summer workforce, said King. During the summer, Dining Services operates according to the summer programming schedule. The financial crisis, however, has limited the number of summer programs—some of which will run for shorter periods. In turn, this means that there is a reduced demand for dining services throughout the summer. According to King, there are approximately 24 ACDC positions available; however, since staffing is determined by seniority among the workforce, some employees may fill more than one slot.

In addition to cutting intersession jobs, Campus Dining will initiate what King called a "pilot program" at the Retreat, experimenting with a reduced service capacity during the summer months. During the 12-week intersession, the Retreat will not offer window service, limiting its food options to "grab ‘n' go" items and soup. This cost-saving measure reduced the College's labor need to only four positions, as opposed to the seven or eight in previous years.

The gravity of the economy is not lost on the food service workers, at least 20 of whom have either been forced to find outside work, or else to spend the 12-week period without a stable income. "Due to the economy and the nationwide unemployment rate, our food service workers will not be able to support themselves and their families this summer while [students] are away," said Bradford. "How is the College going to reach out to the community when some 20 people who have had jobs for the last decade or more don't have a job this summer?" asked Donald Conroy, a Kitchen Worker for Campus Dining.
Employees of higher education institutions are not eligible to receive state unemployment benefits during the summer. Lonigro said that Local 200 had asked the College to provide seasonal unemployment compensation but that the College had not yet responded. According to Lonigro, the service workers at Marist and Bard Colleges— which also employ SEIU members—are fully employed for the summer.

Lonigro contested the fact that workforce reductions would be a solution to the College's economic woes, pointing to general trends higher education that increasingly disadvantage service workers.   

"You can cut all dishwashers you want, you won't make the endowment [come] back," Lonigro said. "You never bridge a budget gap by going for lowest paid people."

Elizabeth Vespe, a Central Dining cashier who will be employed for five weeks this summer with limited hours, also observed a change in the College's relationship with its service employees.

"You didn't used to be a product; you used to be a person," she said. "It seems like it's really gotten out of touch with people here. There is just not that feeling anymore, and I don't know where it went."

Spencer, however, explained that the economic downturn has made summer programs less viable for the outside agencies that usually host events at the College, a major source of job opportunities during the intersession.

Last summer, Vassar had a total of 27 programs on campus, including a combination of outside clients that brought programs to campus like the Summer Institute for the Gifted, a program for kids from grades 4 through 11. Vassar also housed its own students for academic programs like the Ford Scholars.

Vice President for College Relations Susan Dekrey explained that because of the economic crisis fewer programs will be on campus this summer. "We expect to have 19 programs in total this summer," said Dekrey. "There will also be fewer participants in some of the returning programs."

For example, Dekrey explained that the Summer Institute for the Gifted—which had two three-week sessions last summer with a total of 440 participants—will this summer have only one three-week session with an expected 230 participants.

Thus, said Dekrey, "in total, with the reduction in the number of prgrams and reductions in participants in returning programs, we expect several hundred fewer people on campus."

In addition, two of the biggest clients—the Empire Games and Estée Lauder—broadly scaled back their programming this year. The Estée Lauder group, which usually runs for three to six weeks, will last only for one week, while the Empire Games has relocated to Albany. After the Empire Games withdrew its summer commitment, the College made the appropriate reductions to its staffing needs.

"In October we had every reason to think that the Empire Games were going to be carried out," said Spencer. "By January the picture was different. The College has to have its priorities committed to its mission, which is to educate our students during the academic year."

—Additional reporting by Guest Reporter Mike Godbe and Features Editor Mike Alberti