Janitors want no disruption in jobs
Want assurances they'll keep working if late during DNC
Boston janitors who clean buildings downtown want Mayor Thomas M. Menino to seek assurances from their employers that they will not lose jobs or pay if they are late for work during the Democratic National Convention, which is expected to create traffic and mass transit disruptions.
The request from 72 stewards at Local 615 of the Service Employees International Union came in the form of a letter Menino received yesterday. The stewards represent 4,000 janitors who work in downtown office buildings.
"We can't lose pay and we don't want problems with our employers," the letter said. "We need assurances from our employers that if we come to work late . . . we will not lose our pay. An event that will bring wonderful publicity to the city should not be a time of suffering for cleaning workers."
Menino said he will ask the cleaning contractors who employ members of SEIU Local 615 to alter work schedules, if necessary, and take a flexible approach to transportation delays the week of July 25. The convention will be held July 26 to 29.
"We will do everything we can to reach out to these people to make sure they can get to their jobs," Menino said in a telephone interview. "They are the custodians of these buildings, the people who make these buildings and the city work. We know that, for them, a day's pay is very important."
The 12,000-member union local estimates that about 2,000 of the workers who clean buildings downtown will be impacted by the shutdown of North Station during the convention. The rest could face commuting delays because Interstate 93 and other roads leading into Boston will close at 4 p.m. each of the convention's four days and reopen at midnight, said Libby Devlin, director of the union's commercial office space division.
Devlin said many of the janitors arrive at work by 5 or 6 p.m. and put in, on average, three or four hours before leaving to go home or to other jobs.
"Many work a short shift," she said. "Losing a day or a few hours is significant because most of our members work part time. We are concerned that the workers who use public transportation in the evening to get to work will be impacted. Yes, there will be buses, but the streets and highways will be like parking lots."
A spokesman for One Source, a Somerville cleaning company that does janitorial work at North Station, could not be reached. However, a spokesman for Unicco, one of the largest cleaning contractors in New England, said the firm is trying to determine whether its workers will be impacted by traffic congestion during the convention and how to accommodate them.
While many of the city's salaried employees hope to escape the expected gridlock by tapping vacation time, not all of Boston's janitors have that option. The average SEIU contract guarantees janitors at the city's cleaning companies two weeks vacation each year, according to Devlin. However, workers cannot tap the paid benefit until their hiring anniversary, the union said. Some companies require staff to take all of the time at once. Others allow workers to bank time. However, many janitors choose to collect vacation pay in lieu of paid days off to supplement their wages and pay bills. The janitors' wages range from about $12 to $15 per hour, depending on tenure.
Ruby Balbin, 40, of Revere, took her vacation in February and has no time left. Balbin, a janitor who takes public transportation from her home to the State Street MBTA stop and then transfers to North Station, is worried her 45-minute commute could increase significantly during the convention, making her late for her shift at 90 Canal St. Her worksite is about two blocks from the FleetCenter, where the event will be held and security is expected to be tight.
"I have never been late," Balbin said in Spanish through an interpreter. She worries she will be late during the convention and fears she may lose pay.
Balbin estimated a two-hour delay getting to work could cost her $30 to $40, about 20 percent of her weekly pay. She arrives at work at 6 p.m. and her shift ends at 9:45 p.m. She does cleaning and odd jobs at a restaurant in Copley Square from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then returns home to do chores and rest before going to her workplace on Canal Street.
Balbin's concerns mirror those of other low-wage workers in the city. Juan Mata, 20, is a member of the sales staff at a
"I'm working here to pay for college," said Mata, who is studying computer network operations at Gibbs College on Newbury Street. "I can't afford to lose any time."
At a Dunkin' Donuts next door, general manager Elias Kazzi was also worried. He said that when the city first said the transit station would be closed, the eatery informed workers they could take unpaid vacations. Kazzi said some workers are living with family members and will do okay, but others cannot afford to lose a single day. He said the company will try and find work hours at two other sites downtown for those employees.
Menino said yesterday the committee hosting the DNC for the city of Boston "is reaching out to businesses downtown and their employees."
"We will set up a whole system of contacts for these employees to discuss this," he said of the janitors. "There will be all kinds of accommodations to deal with these issues."
Diane E. Lewis can be reached at dlewis@globe.com.
