By Sudhin Thanawala
News Editor

About 15 members of the United Student Labor Action Coalition (USLAC) met with President Bennet again Thursday morning to discuss the unionization of Wesleyan’s janitors, who are employed by Initial Cleaning Services (Initial).

The students said David Landsberg, director of human resources, interfered in the janitor’s attempts to form a union when he recommended to Initial that the janitors seek unionization through a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election.

Unions are formed when companies accept signed authorization cards from a majority of their employees indicating support for a particular union. Employers can also request that the NLRB conduct an election to determine whether a majority of employees support unionization or not.

The NLRB is an independen government agency dedicated to upholding the nation’s labor standards.

An NLRB election is generally held 50 days from the date a petition is submitted by the employer, according to the NLRB website. The NLRB representative is present to insure that the election is conducted fairly.

USLAC member Olivia DeBree ’01 said the NLRB method of forming a union is time consuming, often allowing companies to discourage unionization efforts.

In a statement released Thursday night, Director of Public Information Bill Holder said Landsberg did recommend that Initial use the NLRB.

"Landsberg expressed his belief, based on experience, that the best way for employees to make an informed and unfettered decision about union representation is through an NLRB supervised election in which they are protected against coercion and intimidation, whether by an employer or by a union," Holder said.

Holder added that the University does not interfere in the relationship between its subcontractors and their employees.

But USLAC member Ari Yampolsky ’00 said the group told Bennet on Thursday that Landsberg’s statement to Initial contradicts the University’s policy of noninterference. Moreover, Initial is likely to be influenced by Wesleyan’s recommendation.

"In this case, Initial, the subcontracting company, has to be listening to Wesleyan, which is paying them money," Yampolsky said.

DeBree said USLAC wants the University to support the workers, regardless of the extra cost to Wesleyan of unionization.

"You cannot balance the University’s budget on the backs of its most vulnerable members," Yampolsky said.

The students explained to Bennet that other universities, most prominently Fairfield University in Connecticut, have agreed to use contractors that pay their employees "total compensation" above the federal poverty rate for a family of four, according to a page on Fairfield University’s website.

"Wesleyan University’s policy is to receive quality service at competitive costs from each contractor in order to maximize the resources available to support our educational mission," Holder said.

Bennet explained to the students that Wesleyan’s commitment "to increase faculty salaries by 6.5 percent over the next three years, add 20 faculty and decrease student loans by 30 percent starting next year" is part of the University’s primary goal to strengthen the Wesleyan education.

DeBree said the meeting ended with Bennet agreeing to look into the student’s demands.

DeBree said the students and Bennet were "disappointed" at the end of the meeting. USLAC plans to continue its dialogue with Bennet, still hoping to persuade him to support the janitors, she added.