Volume LXXXVIII, Number 60
Food Service staff
trojan
University of Southern California
Wednesday, May 7, 1980
A WORK OF ART — Visiting children from the university married couples' nursery examine some jewelry at the Crafts Faire Tuesday.
Minority student lobby proposed
Delegates meet with congressmen
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus urged students to form a nationwide lobby to help black congressional members pass legislation dealing with minorities and become more politically aware at a conference in Washington D.C. this weekend. .
Two university students — Sandra Evers-Manly, a junior in public administration and cochairman of the Black Womens Caucus, and Clifford Hackney, a junior in political science, and co-
Resident survey reveals problems
By Carole Long
Gty Editor
Students in university residence halls cited poor and greatly delayed maintenance, lack of responsiveness and sympathy on the part of complex managers and inadequate study and laundry facilities as major areas of complaint in a "Resident Needs Assessment Survey” distributed two months ago. Results of the three-page survey, recently compiled by the Residence Hal's Coordinating Council, have been distributed with recommendations to the Housing and Policy Advisory Committee and the Food and Housing Committee and other university segments.
The survey, distributed between Feb. 24 and March 14, reached a 40% target sample population of the nine on campus residence halls: Bimkrant, College-University, EVK-Harris, Harris Plaza Self-Directed Apartments, Marks International Hall, Marks Tower, Residence West, Touton and Trojan Hall.
The final council report does not contain responses from College-Uni and Marks Hall, however, “due to conflicts of various natures on the part of the representatives," the report says.
Harris Plaza incorporated the responses of its residents within its own independent report.
From the six responding buildings, the council received 250 surveys — a 41% return rate, Esser said.
For students in all six residence halls unsatisfactory laundry facilities were a major area of concern. Respondents said there were not enough machines and the washers and dryers often broke down.
The management's slow response to work orders was another common complaint among students in the six buildings.
David Lee, director of Housing and the Residence Halls, expressed his intention to deal with some of the concerns raised in the survey in a letter to Peter Esser, chairman of the council, dated May 2.
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chairman of the Black Student Union — were among the 70 some student representatives from approximately 30 colleges and universities across the nation who attended the conference.
The caucus, chaired by Rep. Cardiss Collins (D-Illinois), is comprised of black Congressional members.
Hackney and Manly toured the congressmen's offices and spoke with several members of Congress. Hackney said they met with Rep. Julian. Dixon (D-California) for over an hour in his office.
"The conference gave students a chance to meet one on one with congressmen," Hackney said, adding that the congressional leaders were very receptive to the students and surprised the students were aware of the issues.
Hackney and Evers-Manly met two students from Southwest College and plans are underway for the black caucus to hold a similar conference in California.
Hackney said he wished more university students could have attended the conference and he hopes the Black Student Union will be able to send between six and eight representatives to the next conference.
Staff photo by Richard Lavltt
TEETER TOTTER — The Sigma Nu fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority are sponsoring a 72-hour see-saw marathon to raise money for the American Heart Association through Thursday. See story page 15.
seeks higher wages
By Debbie Latish
Staff Writer
Food Service employees have demanded higher salaries and new management policies be added to their union contract, according to a petition signed by 150 employees.
The three-year-old contract of the employees of Local 11 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders Union of the AFL-CIO will expire on July 1, said Alejandro Rivera, shop steward of the union food service workers. The union represents such food service employees as bus boys, line servers, cooks and cashiers. It does not represent student employees.
According to the petition, the employees are asking for an automatic cost of living increase and pay raises of $1.25 per hour for the first year of the new contract, 75 cents for the second year and 40 cents for the third year.
Starting salary for employees is $3.10 per hour, said Rivera, a waiter in the Presidential Banquet Room for 13 years, who now earns $3.24 per hour.
The employees are also asking that hiring policies be changed. Under the present contract. Food Service's management has the option of using part-time student employees to fill the gap when a full-time employee is laid off or quits.
Union employees want a clause in their new contract that guarantees management will hire a full-time employee in the event a person is laid off or leaves work voluntarily, the petition, written in Spanish, stated.
The employees are also asking for more consecutive days off and for extra days off, one after Christmas and after New Year's Day.
Negotiations for the new contract have not yet begun and the employees have not considered striking, Rivera said, but an anonymous letter sent to the Daily Trojan hinted at a possible showdown between management and employees.
The letter, addressed to Anthony Lazzaro, vice president of business affairs, and signed only "USC Food Service Employees" reads in part: "The behavior and attitudes of your managers make our work intolerable. We demand to be treated with dignity and respect. . . . We ask that you please rectify this situation, otherwise there may be a confrontation between management and employees."
Rivera, whose job is to bring employee complaints to the attention of management, said he did not know who sent the letter.
Lazzaro, who was attending a conference in Newport Beach, could not be reached for comment.
Guy Hubbard, executive director of Auxiliary Services, and Milton DeGraw, manager of the Commons, also could not be reached for comment.
Three years ago when the last contract was negotiated a strike almost resulted when the university would not meet the demands of the employees.
The workers had asked for an 80 cents per hour raise for the next three years, while the university offered a 20 cents per hour raise the first year, and a 15 cents per hour increase over each of the next two years. The lowest wage for workers then was $2.70 per hour.
The contract also gave workers two consecutive days off and both they and their families were given health and dental coverage.
After several weeks of negotiations, the workers finally voted not to strike and signed the contract.
No $3-activity fee for Harris tenants
Harris Plaza residents will not have to pay a $3 activity fee to the Residence Halls Coordinating Council due to the defeat Sunday of an amendment to the council's constitution that would have required the payment.
The Harris Plaza Coordinating Council decided April 21 to refuse to pay the fee because the residents said they did not benefit from residence hall programming. Harris' distance from the other residence halls was one reason the building did not participate, said Peter Esser, chairman of the Residence Halls Coordinating Council and the Harris Plaza Coordinating Council.
Residents, who attended the April meeting, said they did not want to deal with "dorm issues" because they considered their building special housing. Some had suggested they leave the council altogether and either remain independent or join Stu-Q, the apartment complex council.
Sixteen of the 21 council members attended the Sunday meeting and 9 voted in favor of the amendment, four opposed and two abstained.
Harris Plaza does not have a member on the residence hall council's programming council but has representation in the executive council. Harris Plaza withdrew four years ago from the programming council, which plans and funds activities such as dances, parties and the annual drama production.
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