By Abbe Smith, Register Staff
asmith@newhavenregister.com

NEW HAVEN — Tensions between the school custodians’ union and the city reached a fever pitch Thursday after both sides launched high-profile attacks against the other.

On the same day the union kicked off a billboard campaign equating custodial privatization to corruption, the city fired back with accusations that custodians were slacking off or missing during an unannounced visit to three schools last week. The city claims include allegations some custodians were caught watching NBA finals on television instead of working.



“We are paying them to clean the building, not to watch basketball games,” said School Chief Operating Officer Will Clark.

Thursday morning, union officials held a press conference to announce purchase of space on eight billboards throughout the city plastered with a new slogan: Privatization equals corruption. The message is a last-ditch effort by the union to try to derail efforts by Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s administration to privatize custodial services for the school district. City and school officials have claimed privatizing the work would be more cost-effective and would result in a more reliable custodial work force. Estimates place cost savings at about $6 million a year.

About 40 people, including union custodians, aldermen, supporters and members of the New Haven Citizens’ Action Network gathered at a billboard at Lyon and Olive streets in the Wooster Square area to drive the message home.

“We understand how serious the threat of privatization is and we intend to mobilize to stop it,” Larry Dorman, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 4, said before the event.

Regarding the city’s public push for privatization in the midst of private contract negotiations with custodians, Dorman said, “We hope they’ll reconsider.”

Union leaders made impassioned pleas on behalf of custodians against the backdrop of a bright red and blue billboard. The union paid $3,000 for the eight billboards.

Bob Proto, president of the Greater New Haven Labor Council, said the union came together to “boot Aramark out of New Haven” after problems with the food service and facilities management company emerged several years ago. While the district opted to manage food service in house, management of school maintenance went to a private firm, AFB Facilities Management, a move the union fought. Continued...

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Proto vowed the union would combine forces to defeat privatization as well. He issued a warning to DeStefano if the mayor tries to “privatize or outsource any of these good jobs.”

“We are putting him on notice,” Proto warned.

Watch Proto speak about the issue here:



Several aldermen, including Michael Smart, in whose ward the billboard sits, attended the event in support of the unions. Smart said he voted against the budget last month because he felt a vote for the budget amounted to a vote in favor of privatization, which he opposes.

“I support the union. I think they work hard,” Smart said.

Last week, the city tried to underscore the need for a more reliable work force by conducting an unannounced inspection of schools the evening of June 17, the same night as game 7 of the NBA finals. According to the city, AFB inspectors found custodians either not working or watching the basketball game on television. Of the 17 custodians scheduled to be working at the time, only one was confirmed to be actually doing his job. The inspection also allegedly found trash had not been emptied, bathrooms were not clean and restocked and lights were left on. City officials claim only one employee was observed doing his job and two employees were not found until after the shift, so it could not be confirmed if they working or not. As a result, the remaining 14 employees will be disciplined, the city said.

Union officials said they were upset with the city’s latest attempt to discredit them and complained they knew nothing of the inspection until contacted by media.

“I feel we were being set up to fail. This is why we have to do a billboard campaign,” said Rob Montuori, president of Local 287 and a custodian at Hooker Middle School.

Montuori said he could not comment on findings of the inspection because he was not informed of them, but generally, he would not stand for custodians slacking on the job. Continued...

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“If there is an employee that is not doing his work, I’m the first guy to tell you I want accountability. I don’t condone that kind of behavior,” he said.

Dorman said the press release is another example of the city “ignoring opportunities to talk to us, to sit down as adults and try to resolve problems and concerns.”

Contact Abbe Smith at 203-789-5615.

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