Union Contract Under Negotiation

By Matthew Rupel

The current Service Employees International Union (SEIU) contract for facilities workers recently expired, and employees fear some of the changes in benefits.

"We want to remind the university of the work that goes into keeping this campus beautiful everyday," said Tony Maldonado, the lead union representative from SEIU. "We have faith that the university will remember that this campus was built by the 99 percent."

The university and the union have been in negotiations for four days. The university Communications Director Deepa Arora stated in an email, "the university is engaged in productive, good-faith negotiations with the union."

Negotiations went on until 10 p.m. on Tuesday, according Maldanado. As of Wednesday afternoon, a deal had not been reached.

"It's not usual for negotiations (to go that late)," said Maldanado, "but we are willing to stay as late as it takes to get the benefits and wages we deserve." 

SEIU remained confident that an agreement could be reached, but that doesn't eliminate the possibility for a strike, said Maldanado.

Contact Matt Rupel at mtrupel@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4849.