Imagine eating lunch every day in a janitorial closet. That is exactly what employees of WFF Services have been doing since July 2008.

Employees of WFF Services, the custodial sub-contractor for Loyola University, once had a break room of their own in the basement of the Danna Center. Since July 2008, though, the Danna Center custodial staff had been taking their breaks in Danna Center room 14 E – the room that is cluttered with a carpet shampooer, floor waxer, cleaning supplies and chemicals along with a table, chairs, two mini refrigerators and a microwave.

Chris Cameron, director of the Office of Co-Curricular Programs, said there is no real break room for custodial staff and the room was never intended as one.

One Danna Center custodian said that he wouldn’t take a break next to the chemical that he works with. “It makes no sense.”

“That specific room has only ever been an equipment room,” Cameron said. “There isn’t a dedicated area in this building where WFF staff would break to, so (they) essentially, just like students, faculty and staff are utilizing the building.”

Ann Moss, plant operations manager and manager for the WFF Services contract, said, “(The Danna Center break room) was an unofficial area that became used as a break room . . . we welcome WFF employees to come to Mercy Hall to take their breaks.”

“For real, that’s the break room they gave us,” the anonymous Danna Center WFF worker said.

The employee went on to say Robert Sides, operations manager for WFF Services, told the workers the janitorial closet was their break room.

“Well, (Robert Sides is) trying to change it up now. First, we had the room next to that room. But they moved it and said, ‘That’s our break room.’ (SGA) made it real nice, then they snatched it away from us … they make us feel like we’re lower than low.”

“The only official break room is here at the WFF shop in Mercy Hall,” director of WFF at Loyola Robert Sides said.

“We don’t have a break room down there,” a WFF employee that works in Bobet Hall said.

At one time, past members of the Student Government Association showed their appreciation to the WFF workers with a table, sofas and bowl of candy.

When shown pictures of the room cluttered with junk containing chairs and a table, Ashley Shabankareh, music education senior and SGA vice president, said, “We need to be providing our workers with a healthier and safer environment for them to work in, and they should have the same benefits that any other person on campus gets.”

Employee Comments

Most WFF employees refused to comment. An anonymous faculty member said, “They’re afraid of losing their jobs.”

“I’ve heard that before,” said Dianne Cousin, an administrative assistant in the philosophy department, when she was asked about whether or not WFF had instructed employees not to speak to the press.

Indeed, WFF employees were instructed not to speak to The Maroon when WFF caught wind of a story printed April 11 of this year covering WFF employee wages.

Robert Sides, Vice President of Operations for WFF, said that employees can talk to The Maroon about “their personal lives,” but asked that all questions regarding WFF policies and procedures be directed to him.

“They’ve got people so scared to say anything,” the Danna Center worker said. “Not just pay raises … if you talk about any kind of benefits, then they’ve got a problem with that.”

Employee Benefits

WFF Services offers a health care plan, but coverage is limited.

“I almost went into debt,” the Danna Center Worker said. He no longer is a policy holder through the plan offered by WFF.

When asked whether or not WFF Services had an open door policy Sides said, “Sure.” When asked why employees would be afraid of losing their jobs if they spoke out, he refused to comment.

When Sides was asked the same question a week later, he said, “Absolutely. They can talk to me seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”

One Bobet Hall custodian disagrees.

“They say that if we have a complaint, then we need to (direct it up) the chain of command. But who is the chain of command . . . You call the leading person and they don’t answer. You may call 30 people, and don’t get nobody,” the Bobet employee said.

Most WFF employees clock in at 6 a.m., get a 15 minute paid break at 9 a.m., are allowed a 45 minute lunch break that they are deducted in pay for and clock out at 2:30 p.m. Sides said that for the 15 minute break they are “allowed to break in or around the building they work in.” Workers can be seen at around this time sitting on benches across campus but are not allowed to sit in the rocking chairs in front of the Danna Center. But they are allowed to sit on the benches in front of Monroe Library.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission states that “Neither state nor federal law requires that employees 18 years or older be given any break (including lunch). The failure to give a break is, therefore, not a violation of law.”

In this case, neither WFF Services nor Loyola is violating this law.

The area of the Danna Center basement in question is not renovated and currently being used as storage. It will be painted and newer furniture brought in during Wolves on the Prowl next month.

WFF employee grievances extend beyond breaks and break rooms, though. In April 2008, The Maroon reported that WFF employee wages were lower than those at Tulane University, University of New Orleans and Xavier University. Base pay at Tulane for employees of UNICCO, the custodial sub-contractor for Tulane, was $10 per hour. The lowest reported wage for WFF employees was and still is $7.19 per hour.

This remains static despite the fact that the average yearly wage in Orleans Parish has gone up from around $38,000 in 2005 to almost $47,800 in 2006 according to http://www.city-data.com. The rising cost of living can only fuel this trend. $7.19 per hour would equate to a yearly salary of about $13,804.80 before taxes. According to one WFF employee, wages have not changed during his two years working for the company. Employees are reviewed for raises once a year, but earning them is next to impossible.

“They don’t give raises because of petty things. Missing a day here and there,” the Danna Center worker said.

Robert Sides said that the wage is “Social Justice pay” and set by the University of Loyola.

Paul Fleming, Assistant Vice President for Administration, could not get back to “The Maroon” to comment on what “Social Justice pay” meant in time for the printing of this article.

Most all employees of WFF that did not decline to speak to “The Maroon” had worked for the company for less than six months. More apparent was the high percentage of new employees.

“I’ve seen so many employees come and go. It’s too much work for the pay,” the Danna Center custodian said. Quite a few employees have echoed the same belief.

“My problem is the $7.19 an hour (that I get paid),” the Bobet Hall custodian said. “And the outstanding work.”

Employee Practices

When Loyola closed the Friday before Hurricane Gustav made landfall, WFF employees were forced to stay and work. Dianne Cousin had questioned a WFF manager whether or not WFF employees would be let go to make preparations to evacuate.

“He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Well, the university is closed. When we’re off, they’re off.’ He said, ‘No, they have to work. I’ll give them time and a half.'”

WFF employees did not receive time and a half for that Friday, but they did get paid time off for the evacuation. The only stipulation to receive that was that employees had to be back the day that the university opened. Robert Sides said that he was recovering from heart surgery during that time and could not confirm or deny this, but did say that WFF employees were given paid time off during the evacuation.

Employee Supplies

WFF employees have said that they are also not receiving enough garbage can liners, bathroom tissue or latex gloves.

One WFF employee said, “As a matter of fact, they give you the wrong stuff to mop with. The other day I was mopping with air freshener … they don’t order enough (supplies).”

One Bobet Hall custodian said, “You don’t get it. I’m just waiting for the day that I can’t provide tissue for the bathroom.”

It is true that when peering into the supply locker in the WFF shop one sees relatively bare shelves for a university of this size.

“This is the worst place that I have ever worked, and I am fifty-something years old,” the Bobet Hall custodian said. Yet there is something good to be said of her work place.

“It’s the Loyola community that keeps me coming back.”

Jean-Paul Arguello can be reached at [email protected].