Union Shop Stewards Protest Part-Time Employment Policy

A decision by the University to offer all full-time food service employees part-time summer jobs has evoked sharp criticism from the employees' union.

In past summers, the employees have been given either full-time jobs or unemployment compensation at about half their regular wage.

Union representatives will meet Thursday with University officials to discuss the matter.

Alan L. Balsam, chief shop steward for Local 26 of the Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Employees' Union, said yesterday many food service employees will not take the part-time jobs because they do not provide sufficient hours.

Workers who refuse these jobs will not be eligible for unemployment compensation, Balsam added.

Balsam called the change in policy "one of the lowest things they [University officials] have ever done."

Edward W. Powers, associate general counsel for employee relations, said yesterday the change was prompted by a desire to "make jobs available to more people and at the same time minimize employment costs."

"It is perfectly legitimate for an employer to want to pay for a working employee rather than one staying at home," he added.

Present unemployment pay-offs cause a "financial burden" which now totals almost $100,000 for summer food service workers, Edward Powers said.

The new policy, using only part-time workers, will cut down on unemployment liability and may save the University up to 50 per cent of food service labor cost, Powers added.

Melvin Powers, shop steward at Stillman Infirmary, called the University's action a "deliberate attempt to avoid paying unemployment compensation."

Balsam said that according to unemployment law, workers can collect unemployment compensation if the jobs offered to them for the summer differ "substantially" in wages or hours from their regular jobs.

Compensation

He said the union has hired lawyers to determine if the workers should still be eligible for unemployment compensation.

Robert Colman, attorney for the union, said yesterday that as yet he cannot be sure if the shop stewards have a case, but added that their position "sounded pretty good."

Sylvia Gallagher, a shop steward, said yesterday many workers will have to refuse the job offer because part-time work does not provide enough money to support their families.

"They are throwing out jobs at people knowing that they will refuse," she added.

The shop stewards not only criticize the part-time hours, but the scheduling, which Gallagher terms "ludicrous."

The University offered her a job working 24 hours a week, six days a week, which was "totally unreasonable," Gallagher said.

Gallagher said the job she was offered had already been refused by two or three people.

Edward Powers said most of the jobs offered were for Monday through Friday with weekends off. He added that any exceptions were based on "operational needs."

"There has been no attempt to concoct ridiculous hours," he said.

Balsam said that summer employment will be the "number one burning issue" when discussions about the employees' contract, which expires on June 19, begin.