Tuesday, February 3, 2015

President Michael Young Hears our Message about Suspended Custodian

We took our protest to UW President Michael Young today, delivering the letter below at his campus wide open discussion about staff issues on campus.
He responded to questioning by saying that, most definitely "when someone is placed on paid administrative leave they should be told immediately of any charges against them and should be given a time line for any adjudication process". He said there was no exception to this policy for the custodial department. After the President's talk the head of Human Resources, Mindy Kornberg told us in the lobby that the employee in question would be sent a letter tomorrow explaining why he has been placed on Admin Leave. She said that it was "outrageous" he had not been told.
Open Letter to President Young Regarding a Suspended Employee:
Dear President Michael Young,
A member of our union, Washington Federation of State Employees, Local 1488, has been placed on paid administrative leave by Building Services Director Gene Woodard, for the past 10 weeks (since the day before Thanksgiving). Despite repeated inquiries, we have not received an explanation as to the reason behind this suspension.
The only indication we have is that the member has been questioned about the distribution of his personal newsletter, which he has distributed within the department (on his own time) for 6 years. To our knowledge, there are no charges against him. We have not been told if there is an investigation ongoing; and if there is, what it is about. In the meantime, yet another vacancy has been created within the ranks of Custodial Services where members are already seriously overworked. How long will this continue?
President Young, please do what you can to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,
Paula Lukaszek,
President Local 1488