By Bessie King
Cookies, giveaways, popcorn and tours greeted visitors last Wednesday at the University Mail Services’ open house. What organizers failed to include, however, was information about the mailing services’ new owner and how work-studies are reacting to the change.
“Students who have worked here for a while are a little mad over the switch of charges, but we can’t really talk openly because of new company policies,” said a freshman undecided major who has been working at ResMail since January.
Northeastern was in control of the mail services that serve all 64 university buildings until last October when Pitney Bowes, a mailing and document technologies world-wide label company, took over.
With locations in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Mexico and other parts of the world, Pitney Bowes promises to “strengthen customer relationships and uncover real business opportunities,” according to the company’s Web site.
About 300 to 350 work-studies are currently employed at the mailing offices. They clear university mailboxes twice a day and pick up and deliver mail and packages. Approximately 2,000 packages and 2,000-plus letters are managed each week in the ResMail and university mail offices, employees said.
“Before the change we had a relaxed environment and now it’s more corporate,” said Mike Amato, a senior sociology and linguistics major who has worked at ResMail since his freshman year. “Besides having to follow corporate policies, we are also working with university mail, so ResMail workers are doing university mail work that is not harder, but is just not our job.”
Mailing services managers declined to comment, saying, “We cannot speak on any issues. Due to company policies, only our supervisors can disclose information.”
Bill Mallon, the university business manager, said the change from Northeastern to Pitney Bowes has been known since October and there are really no problems between employers and employees.
Still, workers are trying to cope with new policies, which include mandatory drug tests, specific times for punching in and out and no sharing of company information outside the workspace. Not following these policies can leave a work-study without a job, but some students are not complaining.
“This is my first time working here and I’ve heard others complain, but I won’t say anything because this is the least work I’ve done and probably will ever do,” said a sophomore business major who began working at ResMail this semester.
Questions about benefits are also being brought up. Every summer, Northeastern has offered 20 positions for work at mailing services. The salary, $7.50 an hour, is the same as in the fall or spring semesters, but free housing and a schedule of 20 hours a week is included.
Pitney Bowes will only have 10 positions for a 40-hour work week with uncertainty in whether or not housing will be offered or if the jobs will be open to work-studies.
Other benefits concern education. ResMail graduate full time workers were allowed to take classes and study to get their master’s degrees without paying tuition. Now, all workers have to pay for their studies.
“Many students didn’t come back this semester because they didn’t want to be part of a corporate environment. This is a work study that helps us pay for school, not make a four label company get cheap labor,” Amato said.
