Northeastern President Richard Freeland greeted assembled members of the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) on Friday morning after the group camped out in front of Churchill Hall to show their support for the “Justice for Janitors” rally which has been ongoing for nearly a month.
The PSA once again attempted to show their alliance and demand Northeastern’s support for the janitors of Northeastern and around the Boston area.
“It was very cordial,” said PSA representative Mike Amato. “He was very friendly with us and we appreciated the time he took to talk to us.”
Freeland was handed a flyer on Friday produced by the PSA describing the concern it had not only with the way Consolidated Cleaning and other companies were treating their employees, but also the lack of recognition by President Freeland and other groups concerning the severity of the matter.
“Most recently, the student senate passed a resolution supporting the janitors and asking President Freeland to do the same. The janitors’ demands are: the assurance of more full time work, health insurance for all workers, sick days for all workers and a living wage,” the flyer said.
Both Amato and Freeland thought the meetings were important and effective.
“They were concerned students,” said Freeland in an interview with The News last Friday. “I found them to be thoughtful, respectful, articulate and thoroughly responsible in the way they conducted themselves.”
While Freeland continues to stress his desire to aid in the cause, Amato feels that is not enough.
“I think we would like a public statement,” said Amato. “It’s one thing to say you’re going to do something and do it, but a public statement would make us all feel a little better.”
According to Freeland, he has contacted members of Consolidated Cleaning expressing his desire to aid in finalizing an agreement for the janitors. According to Freeland, 72 percent of the contracted work service is full time and receive benefits such as health care and other amenities.
“They should make a fair wage,” said Freeland. “I have urged Consolidated to work with a collective bargaining process.”
Amato agreed.
“We think that’s cool,” said Amato. “We’re not saying every janitor is going to get full time employment. But (Freeland) talked about signing that agreement and how it wouldn’t make a lot of difference to the Northeastern community. If that’s the case, he should sign it.”
Freeland stressed the importance of knowing about all situations surrounding the argument.
“I said to them that I’m not going to come out and endorse that particular bargaining context,” he said. “I have been around a bargaining table and I know what it is to bargain a union contract. In that setting, both sides are making a lot of demands and every demand is played off against every other demand.
“Until you have the whole picture in front of you with all the issues, it’s just not responsible to say, ‘I favor this or I favor that,'” he continued. “Something could seem very reasonable on the surface, but it could be linked to something you don’t see. So I felt it wasn’t responsible given my position and my lack of information to endorse a particular demand. I want the outcome to be fair and to be a better deal for the janitors and I want it to happen quickly and I’ve communicated that to Consolidated.”
Though the message was clear, Amato tried to take it one step further.
“He cautioned us against blindly listening to the union,” said Amato. “But we told him we weren’t doing that. We realize where that would take us. But we’re cautiously optimistic something will get done.”
Amato mentioned the PSA and the Boston Student Labor Action Group (SLAP) are going after high profile agencies such as Northeastern because of their image in society.
“The contractors have no public face,” said Amato. “They have nothing to lose. We know how other ‘Justice for Janitors’ strikes have gone and how they’ve won those. The high profile people are public figures and can have more of a say of what’s going on. That’s why they have been our focus.”
After the discussion had finished, many janitors came around to give their thanks to the PSA students who had camped out.
“It was a morale boost for them,” said Amato. “It was nice. They came around and many of the men shook hands and gave their thanks and the women gave us hugs. It was a very surreal feeling. It really meant a lot.”
Saturday, Amato along with Stephanie Wei Wang of M.I.T. organized a walk through Boston. Both are members of SLAP and each started a march at their separate school and made their way to Boylston Street and eventually to Copley Plaza.
Forty participants formed at the Plaza and, along with a folk singing band and many janitors, once again showed their support.
Tuesday night in back of Churchill Hall, students organized a movie on the building itself. The show was a documentary on the Harvard Living Wage sit in which happened nearly two years ago.
Amato plans to organize more events in the future pending an agreement.
