But the presence of lower-paid subcontracted labor may prove an effective bargaining chip for the University in later labor negotiations, one worker said. Union leaders prefer to attribute any problems with efficiency or lack of competitiveness to management. Local 35 workers said they are the ones handcuffed by an administration that hires too few people to take care of buildings suffering from years of deferred maintenance problems. Outside service and maintenance firms said their workers are prepared to perform better without the highly specific job classifications and guaranteed wages of the unions. Issues unaddressed The issues of worker productivity and the cost of a union work force are hard to address in a room with a 60-member union bargaining team, negotiators said.
Workers fear the competition for their jobs, and are defensive about the quality of their work.
With the extremely slow pace of negotiations hinging on the topic, University leaders are cautious about how they address issues of efficiency. Negotiators brought a similar subcontracting proposal to the bargaining table during the last negotiations in 1992. Leaders resolved the issue by forming a joint labor-management committee to examine whether the University needs subcontracting. The committee produced a plan to make maintenance work more efficient by managing the work in zones. But meetings fell apart after two years, with each side blaming the other for a lack of commitment.