College Must Treat Its Service Employees Better

To the Editor:

With the College’s recent decision to switch dining companies, I have noticed many politically active students scrutinizing the three dining companies chosen as finalists, asking each company’s representatives on campus questions related to labor issues: how each company treats their workers, whether unionization is permitted, etc. I am impressed with these students’ attitudes of concern, and ask them and others to consider also the alarming and less publicized situation of workers at Oberlin College that are “closer to home.” 
Many of the College’s custodians have begun to experience health complications because of the harsh chemicals with which they must work. Most students have passed a bathroom which a custodian is cleaning and noticed the fumes emanating from it. Imagine having to work in close proximity to those chemicals every day without adequate protection. This was the situation regarding Oberlin College’s custodians until about a year ago, when respirators were issued in order to protect them. One custodian whom I talked to noted that this solution was not foolproof. “You have to breathe harder to keep the respirator on,” she told me. This becomes a problem when many of the custodians are asthmatic; furthermore, the condition of asthma may have arose in them as a result of working with these harmful chemicals for long periods of time without protection. 
My attention was initially drawn to this issue after I returned from winter break and noticed that a custodian and valued friend of mine was not at her usual placement in South Hall, where I live. I asked another custodian about her and was informed that she was in the hospital, but was not told why. My friend returned to her job only about three weeks ago (which means she was forced to miss three months’ worth of work) but, before completing a week of work, she was rushed from South Hall in an ambulance! 
Extremely concerned, I spoke again to the same custodian, who informed me that certain conditions –– fresh paint and dusty areas, to name two –– provoked a dangerous reaction in my friend’s breathing due to the damage incurred to her lungs over time. Her supervisors and employers were well aware of her particular susceptibility to these conditions, yet failed to take the appropriate steps to ensure that her health would not be compromised while doing her job. 
What other avoidable health risks do the custodians have to face? Another recent decision by the office of facilities operations was to switch the brands of cleansers that the custodians use. Name-brand cleansers such as Lysol, Windex, etc. were switched with one particular brand, Spartan, which saves money for the College since they now only have to order their products from one company. The custodians, on the other hand, are experiencing new health complications triggered by this “economically efficient” decision. As one custodian succinctly put it, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” referring to the switch in chemicals that further compromises the health and safety of the custodians.
So what can we, as students, do for these workers (besides organize a worldwide revolution)? The first step: get to know the custodians who work in your hall. Friendly words go a long way toward the people who clean your living space on a daily basis. If you have already done this, begin talking to them about some of the issues presented in my letter. Ask them whether they feel protected by their employers, and if they have experienced harmful effects on their health associated with their work. Tell them you would like to help make sure their safety is ensured, and ask them whom you should contact in their behalf. Let’s do our part to make certain that the workers who are involved in the upkeep of Oberlin receive their right to safe working conditions. I call on every student, faculty and staff member, but particularly the members of the International Socialist Organization and Christian groups on campus, who (theoretically) should be concerned about what I have just explicated in this letter. Thank you.

–Arthur Bueno
College first-year