In Two Rallies, Protesters Oppose Medical School’s 31 Planned Custodial Job Cuts

Dozens of workers, union members, and labor activists turned out Wednesday for two separate rallies to protest Harvard Medical School’s decision to cut 31 custodial contract jobs.

A morning rally at the Medical School’s Longwood campus drew more than 50 people, according to a union employee, while an afternoon rally that began in front of Holyoke Center and turned into a march through Harvard Yard attracted more than 80 protesters.

The terminations follow the Medical School’s cancellation of its contract with American Cleaning Company, Inc., a Brighton-based subcontractor that contracted the 31 custodial workers. The cuts were expected to take place on Aug. 17 but have since been delayed to September.

Richard M. Shea, the Medical School’s associate dean for campus planning and facilities, said in an interview in July that the terminations are being made to reduce the Medical School’s operating deficit. Approximately 60 additional custodial workers directly employed by the Medical School will keep their current jobs amidst the cuts, which are expected to save the Medical School up to $1 million.

Still, protesters alleged on Wednesday that the cuts are both unjust and unnecessary.

“Principally, we want to make sure that folks know that these cuts are happening, and also that they don’t need to happen,” Eliza Sparkes, a communications specialist for the Service Employees International Union Local 615, said in an interview at the afternoon rally. “Harvard is claiming that they have to balance their budget, that they have a deficit, and yet they’re looking to cut some of the lowest-paid workers at the school instead of looking to see where else in the vast wealth that is Harvard that they can make changes.”

Shea said in July that to address the operating deficit, the Medical School is evaluating its operations across the board. And Gina Vild, associate dean for communications and external relations at the Medical School, wrote in an email Tuesday that the custodial service cuts are “one of a number of strategies that has been proposed to address the School's substantial operating deficit.”

But for the protesters at the rallies, the human cost of the cuts was too high.

“I’m here today because I like to support the workers,” Itamar Sangiorgio, a custodial worker with the Harvard Library, said as he passed out flyers outside Holyoke Center at the start of the rally. “I know it’s important to support them because we work hard, we help improve Harvard...and I know that their families are going to be suffering at this time.”

Nereida Calderon, one of the contracted custodial workers at the Medical School who will lose her job in September, said in an interview after the afternoon rally that she felt grateful for the protesters’ support. She spoke in Spanish through a translator.

The two rallies on Wednesday were not the first signs of outcry against the cuts. A petition in opposition of the cuts began circulating, both online and in paper form, after the union learned of Harvard’s plans in June. Sparkes said that both forms of the petition had each collected almost 300 signatures as of Wednesday. And on Monday, the Cambridge City Council approved a resolution “condemning” the decision.

—Staff writer Madeline R. Conway can be reached at mconway@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MadelineRConway.