In an office in the basement of Dartmouth Hall, Earl Sweet, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 560, surveys the time sheets littering his desk. Since the College announced major changes to its budget on Feb. 9, Sweet has been working with union members displaced by the restructuring to find them new positions at the College.
"I've never seen anything like this in the 30 years I've been here," Sweet said. "Hopefully, it doesn't get any worse. Right now, who knows?"
While no union members have been laid off, Sweet said the closing of Cafe North, a reduction in working hours for employees at the Hanover Inn and Courtyard Cafe, and the elimination of vacant positions will be a hardship for these individuals. Work weeks for Inn employees will be reduced from 40 hours to 37.5 hours, while 11 open positions were cut from the Facilities, Operations and Management office.
Cutting the range of available jobs, as the College has done in Dartmouth Dining Services, Safety and Security and FO&M, means that longtime employees will have to take more junior jobs than they would have previously, Sweet said.
These positions often entail fewer working hours, making the shift in position equivalent to a cut in pay. This decrease in hours is compounded by the relocation of some employees, particularly in DDS, who will now have to work radically different schedules, Sweet said.
"The hours will change, days off will change, some of their work spaces will change; so they have, in reality, lost their job," Sweet said. "The Hanover Inn is a perfect example. These people don't get paid a heck of a lot over there. When you start knocking them down to 37 and a half hours, that hurts."
Reductions in working hours affect all union members employed at the Hanover Inn, according to Rebecca Brocar, a member of the housekeeping staff. Employees' reactions to the changes were "not very good," she said, and they have been working with Sweet and the College to improve the proposal.
Scheduling changes can be especially difficult for employees whose spouses also work at the College, Sweet said.
Pam Barrows, a custodian in the East Wheelock residential cluster, said that no changes have been made to employees' schedules in the Office of Residential Life.
In FO&M, where her husband Bill works, there has been talk that employees may be moved to different shifts, she said.
"Right now, we ride the bus that we are compensated for," Pam Barrows said. "If we did change shifts, we'd have to drive two vehicles. It wouldn't be very cost-effective for us."
Because so many positions have been left unfilled in FO&M, staff from Residential Life will likely be used to fill the gaps, cleaning classrooms and office spaces in addition to their normal rounds in residence halls, Barrows said.
Employees with children may also have difficulty adjusting to changes in working hours, according to Shirley Clark, the lead counterworker currently stationed in Cafe North.
"Everybody's set in their routines," Clark said. "They like to have the days off that are great for their children or husband, so it's compatible. Somebody might end up on night shift and somebody on day shift, and it's going to cause a lot of problems."
Clark, however, said she prefers having to shift positions and move staff, as opposed to more layoffs.
"Being a union employee, I feel this is probably the better of all the evils, because it could be a lot worse," she said. "We could have downsized and gotten rid of people, rather than just changing jobs. It's going to cause a lot of heartache among the people that are working."
The union is also working with officials in Dartmouth's human resources department and DDS to try to accommodate employee concerns, according to Sherry Poirier, lead counterworker at Novack Cafe.
"We all realize what's going on with the economy, and it's very scary for some people," Poirier said. "It would be nice if some concessions could be made on both sides, but that's for the union and the management to try to work out for the rest of us."
Negotiators have suggested cuts in pay that increase with overall salary as an alternative to cutting positions, according to Clark, but administrators have yet to make any changes to the originally announced plan.
Sweet and other employees also raised questions about the quality of College services following the announced staff changes. The Courtyard Cafe, for example, may soon subcontract many of its packaged foods, rather than preparing them in-house, Sweet said.
"[The College] claims they're saving money in the salad room by bringing in stuff pre-done already," he said. "I just don't think it's the same as the way it was."
Economic circumstances and the growth of the College over time have changed how the school treats its employees, according to Sweet and other staffers, who argue that there is less of a personal connection between Dartmouth and its staff, and that the College is run more like a business than in years past.
"When I came here, Dartmouth was a family, and now it's getting to be like a corporation," Clark said. "It's just sad. I really don't know what else to say."
The College is still one of the best employers in the area, despite economic difficulties and the current rough patch with employees, Poirier said.
This makes many employees concerned about the lack of opportunity elsewhere, should their jobs with the College be terminated.
"For some people, this is the best that they will ever hope to have as far as a job, and it's scary to think you would lose this piece of security," she said. "Hopefully, things will settle down, and people can go back to doing what we're here for, which is providing a service for [the students.] That's why we're here."
