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12
Thursday, April 6, 1978
University Daily Kansan
Senate ...
From page one
last night for more questions from the committee.
GSC is requesting a 26 cent increase in the student activity fee to raise its funds.
In action in the Senate Services Committee, tentative recommendations were made on the budget requests of seven groups.
The committee will make final recommendations for these groups and others tomorrow or Friday, Mary Beth Craig, chairman, said.
With an 8-4 vote, the committee decided not to fund the Men's Coalition, which asked for $1,925. Several members said the counseling services for men that the group had proposed to offer were duplications of services provided by other campus groups.
Several members of the committee backed a motion that would have given the coalition $200 as seed money to give the company more cash, viable. However, the motion was defeated.
MIKE PENDERGAST, president of the Men's Coalition, said Tuesday night that volunteers from the group would counsel men with problems and men with serious problems would be referred to professionals who could help them.
Another group that had its bug request lowered was Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity which had requested $1,986. Its request was cut to $1,151.
The committee split the request for advertising in the Kansan from $900 to $450.
THE OTHER groups considered by the committee had their requests approved with their consent.
Several committee members itemized the advertising they thought would be needed for proposed projects for Alpha Phi Omega and came up with $450.
The groups are Douglas County Rape Victim Support Service, Douglas County Legal Aid, Volunteer Clearing House, KU-Y and KU Amatur Radio Club.
In other action taken by the Services Committee, the KU Campus Veterans appeared before the committee to answer questions the committee did not have time to ask when the Veterans appeared Tuesday.
Henry Johns, acting president, emphasized that the service representative the group was requesting funds for would not officially replace the Veterans Administration worker who is leaving KU next
fall
The VA worker's withdrawal stems from a decision made by the VA. Johns said, and the service representative would not officially replace him.
A recommendation will be made on the Veteran's request tonight or Friday.
Custodians
From page one
"It all seems to work OK," Beerbower said. "But before we start junking our machines, we'll need a lot more from them."
Thurston said that American Management planned to bring in all of the equipment that was necessary to get the job done.
"The catch is," he said, "that so many people don't show up that sometimes we get pulled from our regular area to cover where people are missing.
Echoing the sentiments of other custodians, Tom Sanders, a custodian on Wesco Hall's heavily-traveled fourth floor, said that new chemicals, different machines and increased work load had been the only changes in his job.
UNDER THE contract, the total work area to be covered under American Management is 2,778,758 square feet. In a recent memo, Russell Millek, KU director of Human Resources, said that staff level should be 125 custodians. That averages 22,214 square foot a worker.
"We GOT these sweepers here," he said, pointing to a red-and-white vacuum with a cord tape in two places. "But it ain't a mess, that we used to have, just a different brand."
"Before they restructured our areas it was never a problem to shuffle around for absentees. We expected it. But now things tight. we don't have the leeway for that."
Another custodian said that he was able to cover his new work area without much effort.
Ken Brouhard, business agent for Local 1422 of the Public Employees Service Union which represents KU custodians, said that a work report made by Facilities Operations team had assessed the average custodian load at 14,000 and 16,000 square feet a worker.
"We've had a heck of a lot of custodians coming to union meetings in the past four years," she said.
HOWEVER, UNDERSTAFFING was a
hobework. Management team
accounted for unauthorized
"When you get down to it, money, or lack
On April 11 and 12, the full Senate will approve, amend or refuse all of the com-
mission's recommendations.
--of it, is one of the big problems." Feldstein said.
Starting pay for a custodial worker is $160 a month. Because they are civil service employees, neither KU nor American colleges has any control over their paychecks.
Custodians are classified at level five on the pay scale, which is third to the lowest. They receive four 5 percent raises—the first after six months, and then one each subsequent year for three years—until they receive a ceiling pay of $400 a month or $6,961 a year.
THE POVERTY level as established by the department of Helath, Education and Welfare for a family of four now stands at $7.313 a year.
The only other raises a custodian receives are cost-of-living raises, which must be based on actual inflation.
"We are in the position of managing people who we don't pay," said Feldstein.
Feldstein said that American Management had been making every effort possible to keep it low.
"in the past, American Management has operated mostly in hospitals or commercial environments and I believe they had to be trained." He said here. And they still are learning," he said.
LEE AGREED that American Management sometimes seemed to run the department as if they were servicing a hospital.
"They sent a gal over here to instruct us,
and she told me to clean and disinfect the
room."
I've been here a long time, and I like
working for KU, but I'm not going to do
anything else.
"The way I see it, it's one thing to sit at a desk and draw up nice schedules and buy equipment, but it is a whole new ball game when you grab that mop and start scrub-
© 1977 Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wis.