Maria Perla has been an AU janitor for 14 years. She is draped in a large Aramark uniform shirt and her eyes look worn. She talks for about 15 minutes with the assistance of a translator before her lunch break is over.
Perla, through translation by Service Employees International Union representative Maria Diaz, said she is from El Salvador and does not speak any English. She cannot afford health insurance for herself and her 5-year-old son. Last year, she turned to agencies for aid to help her pay the high bills when she took her son to the American Children's Hospital for an infected gum and a cut on his lip.
She complained that her knees were hurting and she was unable to get any treatment. Then the headaches started. When she finally went to the doctor months later, she was told she needed glasses. However, her new glasses broke at work because there was no safe place to put them. So she now has to start saving again for new glasses.
At the end of the month, with bills, daycare and rent for a house in the District, there is hardly any money left for other expenses, Perla said.
Perla is one of many Aramark workers on campus who came to a press conference Monday on the main Quad, held by AU janitors, AU Solidarity and Local 82 of the Services Employees International Union, to support the demands for higher wages and affordable benefits for AU's custodial workers.
"We have to pay the babysitter ... our mortgage ... or a lot of bills," custodian Alba Vigil said, also translated by Diaz at the conference. "With $9.65 [per hour], we can hardly pay it."
The Eagle previously reported that Diaz said Aramark workers were negotiating their contract with Aramark, asking for an increase in wages from $9.65 to $11.45 per hour, as well as pension benefits and affordable healthcare. Currently, the custodians' health plan, through Kaiser Permanente, requires $40 a week out of workers' paychecks. In addition, Aramark has proposed a 64 percent increase in employees' weekly contribution to their health care plan.
"I got coworkers with babies," said James Warren, another janitor. "They can't even take their babies to the clinic because ... it costs you almost $200 and I'm probably sure that the people who own this company don't have that trouble taking their kids to the doctors."
The University contracts workers through Aramark, which has over 200,000 employees and provides facility, food and service workers to clients around the country, according to a company statement. The statement said the company was ranked No. 1 in outsourcing services and in the top 10 among all companies by FORTUNE Magazine's 2003 survey of the "Most Admired Companies in America."
"They [custodians] work hard and they come to work every day," SEIU Local 82 Secretary-Treasurer Jaime Contreras said. "They deserve to be paid a decent wage."
According to documents from Diaz, custodians at Gallaudet University earn a minimum of $9.75 per hour, while custodians from George Washington University earned at least $12.54 per hour in 2001. Meanwhile, the lowest-paid worker at AU makes $9.65 an hour and an annual salary of about $14,000 after taxes.
"Aramark is committed to working closely with American University officials to provide competitive living wages, a productive working environment and the resources and training that our employees need to do their jobs effectively," Aramark said in a statement in response to the press conference.
The statement also said that the company "intends to follow their success with the SEIU Local 82 for the benefit of our employees at AU and will convey the outcome of our negotiations once we reach final agreement."
"It is time for Aramark to hear that the workers are fed up," Diaz said. "They have to give the workers [what they want] and if the workers have to come out in strike, we will strike."
SEIU Local 82 argues that Aramark should adhere to the living wage that was passed last year, stating that all AU full-time workers would earn at least $10.31 per hour. According to President Ladner's Nov. 14, 2002 statement, the University decided to pay "fair wages" so that "the lowest-paid employees can live within the economic structure of the greater Washington geographical region."
"Ben Ladner says that this is a private institution with a public responsibility," said sophomore David Benzaquen, a member of AU Solidarity who spoke at the conference. "[How about] a public responsibility to give workers a decent wage."
According to University Spokesman Todd Sedmak, AU is waiting for Aramark and the union to finish their negotiations. Once they reach an agreement, it is up to Aramark to discuss anything that would impact AU's and Aramark's contract.
Benzaquen also said that the custodial staff does not have many opportunities like other staff members of AU, which include free college tuition or any increases in pay during times of bad weather. According to Benzaquen, while other workers were able to stay home, Aramark workers had to work on Sept. 11, 2001 and during Hurricane Isabel.
"It is disgraceful that we treat the Aramark workers like second-class citizens," Benzaquen said.
The group has collected more than 1,500 signatures for a petition that is going to be presented to Aramark before the rally today at 11:30 a.m., according to Benzaquen.
"I think the conference went really well. It served two main purposes," AU Solidarity member Rebecca DeWinter said. "First, to get the word out to the AU community, and secondly to rally the workers up"
