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Overworked, understaffed and underpaid: University custodians claim little compensation for heavy work load

<p>Sharon Gale is wiping off the sink and the mirror in the women's bathroom in the University Center. One of Gales job is to go around to all of the bathrooms on the first floor of the UC and clean them from top to bottom.&nbsp;</p>
Sharon Gale is wiping off the sink and the mirror in the women's bathroom in the University Center. One of Gales job is to go around to all of the bathrooms on the first floor of the UC and clean them from top to bottom. 

Several custodians at the University of Memphis said they think they are overworked, understaffed and underpaid.

Many custodians must work five days per week and clean more buildings if their coworkers cannot come in to work. The 171 custodians at the university earn $10.10 per hour when they start. One of these custodians, Allen Webb, started working as a custodian in September 2015 and has not received a raise since.

“The state gave us a raise, but it was a 3 percent raise,” Webb said. “To make a long story short, I got a 30¢ raise. That’s the only thing that I have got since I’ve been here.”

Ron Brooks, University of Memphis physical plant assistant vice president, said Webb's wage increase was state mandated and the state controls all payment.

"The pay raises are dictated by the governer and the state legislature, not through us," Brooks said. "It usually requires you to have a year's service before you recieve it.

U of M custodians on average are paid $21,435 per year, working five days per week and 52 weeks per year, according to Brooks. According to Webb, custodians can work in up to three buildings in one night.

Webb works from 3 to 11 p.m., one of the three regular shifts for U of M custodians. During his shift, Allen is expected to detail and clean the restrooms, classrooms, auditoriums and any facility students use on campus during the day.

“There will be days when the managers will come around and shuffle us around the campus when we’re short to accommodate some of these buildings,” Webb said. “You can find yourself in three different buildings running around like a chicken with your head cut off.”

Sharon Gale works with Webb in the University Center and said the pair need help with the workload.

“The thing is we have been asking for help,” Gale said. “Y’all (university management) make a lot of money here, and I feel like where’s our help at?”

The UC has many meeting rooms and eight restrooms the pair has to clean and maintain every day. Since the UC is a high traffic building, Brooks has 13 custodians working there daily, across three shifts.

“This building we work in is a high-profile building,” Gale said. “Y’all (university management) expect all this work from me and him while we are shorthanded? How is this possible? We are going to have to get more people.”

Goldie Davis works an evening shift in Patterson Hall and other buildings, if they are shorthanded elsewhere. She thinks the university is not paying the custodians enough.

“They can pay us more than what they are paying us,” Davis said. “We were supposed to get a raise this year, but we didn’t get that at all.”

Davis sweeps under and arranges the chairs in each classroom and mops what needs mopping. She is also responsible for all the trash receptacles in the building and cleaning the restrooms.

“There’s a lot of work that you have to do,” Davis said. “They evaluate your wage by the work that you do. That’s how you raise your wage, but it is a lot of work.”

Harold Gilkey, supervisor of the 3-11p.m. shift, said the university provides escorts to and from vehicles after a custodian’s shift is over, either from police services or a group of other custodians, to allay safety concerns a custodian may have after leaving work.

Sharon Gale is wiping off the sink and the mirror in the women's bathroom in the University Center. One of Gales job is to go around to all of the bathrooms on the first floor of the UC and clean them from top to bottom. 


Allen Webb is changing out all the trash cans on the second floor of the University Center. Webb works a three to ten shift at the UC and is in charge of the whole second floor plus whatever other buildings need help in.



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