A group of Auraria custodian workers marched at Lawrence Plaza April 25 to protest the unfair way they believe they are being treated by their supervisors and the Auraria Higher Education Center.

"Si se pude. Yes, we can do it," the workers and their union allies chanted around campus. Protestors held signs demanding, "respect now" and proclaimed that "all labor has dignity."

It's been a little over two months since custodian workers decided to unionize. At the heart of this unionization effort lies what custodians have described as unfair and degrading working conditions.

Manuel Montes, one of the most vocal advocates for his fellow custodians, claimed that, "they scream at us, they intimidate us, there's no respect."

Custodians are voicing their grievances through a drafted bill of rights. The custodian's bill of rights identifies seven of their most important issues, including a recent change in working hours for employees who work the graveyard shift.

"I'm indignant, they treat us like mops," Berrta Ribota told her fellow workers during their work break. "I've worked here for 18 years, and just like that they told me, that if I didn't sign the shift change form, that they would move me from the evening shift to the graveyard. After I signed, they still changed my shift."

The workers allege that in a meeting last November, Auxiliary Operations Director Tara Weachter presented the custodian staff with a form that effectively changed their work schedules from the graveyard shift of 10 p.m. - 7:30 a.m. to a shift that ran from 5 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.

"Tara Weachter gave us a paper to sign, but they never explained it or gave us copies in Spanish, we didn't know what we were signing. This change in hours shaved 7 percent of their pay," Rosario De Baca, a union organizer said.

Custodians are demanding the right to refuse to sign any document that they do not receive a copy of.

"[The custodian staff] had time to take [the notice] home, review it with their families and there was no pressure to sign anything," Weachter said. "When we have employees sign documents, they are not signing it to acknowledge that they agree, it's acknowledging that the information has been presented to them."

She also said that the difference in pay was incorrect, and that the actual difference is about 2.5 percent.

"Typically in a state classified system, employees need to be given two week's notice that their schedule is changing," she said. "The folks within these work units were given over a month to adjust their personal and home life schedules and things of that nature."

Weachter said that she prefaced the changes in working hours to the custodian staff with statistics suggesting that graveyard shifts are unhealthy for the workers, causing problems like heart disease, digestive problems and insomnia from unnatural sleep and work hours.

"I felt very strongly about bringing them into the environment," Weachter said. As a former custodian worker, she believes that graveyard shifts alienate workers from the community and their own families.

Weachter said the allegations on not translating the letter are also untrue, and that department director Edward Hinojosa translates for them regularly.

In the short time that the custodians decided to unionize, they were able to collect about 700 student and staff signatures in support of their effort.

They believe that through a strong labor union they will be able to fix their working conditions, which is why they are asking for the right to join a union, and the right to be free of intimidation and harassment for union activity.

AHEC's own policy on unions protects the workers from harassment and allows them to talk about union activity during their own time (breaks and lunch).

"They gave us a paper that said that we had the right to talk about the union during our lunch and breaks, but the supervisors tell us, that we weren't allowed to talk about it," Montes said.

According to Weachter, the discussion are fine before working hours, after working hours and during lunch -- as long as they have scheduled and booked a room that is away from the rest of the workers.

Currently, AHEC is drafting a response letter to address the concerns of the handful of workers who presented their bill of rights to the department.

"We're going to keep up the pressure," De Baca said.

 Scott Wasserman on KGNU

DENVER -- Monday's revelation that Colorado has an additional $199 million to spend next year brought doesn't appear to be enough to save several hundred state employees from the chopping block.

The revenue gains will be enough to restore a property tax exemption for all Colorado seniors and to ensure that per pupil spending on K-12 education doesn't drop next year.

But a proposed cut to state agencies' payrolls is still a part of the budget proposal, after the Joint Budget Committee on Monday split over whether or not to reverse it.

Three Democrats voted to restore the proposed cuts, but three Republicans on the committee voted to maintain them.

Colorado WINS, the union representing state workers, estimates that keeping the 2 percent reduction in place will result in the loss of between 450 and 500 state workers, affecting those in higher education, Youth Correctional Institutions, Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, State Patrol troopers and DMV offices.

Republicans have downplayed those claims and argued that layoffs can be avoided through "vacancy savings" -- not filling vacant positions when they open up.

But Henry Sobanet, Gov. John Hickenlooper's director, informed the J.B.C. last month that such savings have been exhausted and that the proposed cut to agencies' payrolls will likely result in layoffs.

Specifically, the Office of State Planning and Budgeting estimates that the cut will force the layoffs of 10 state troopers, 20 employees at CMHI and 15 additional caregivers for the developmentally disabled, at least 80 workers at correctional facilities housing adults and children convicted of crimes, and 10 employees at driver's license offices across the state.

On Tuesday, Sobanet told the Denver Post that Hickenlooper, despite the J.B.C.'s vote Monday to restore the senior homestead exemption, favors passing a law to suspend it for a third straight year, which would save the state $96.1 million.

Doing so would force an ugly fight with Republicans, who made restoring the tax break their top budgetary priority.

Avoiding the cut to state agencies' budgets will cost the state an estimated $20.3 million next year.

Colorado WINS has been active participants in the development of House Bill 1321, legislation that would change the classified personnel system introduced on Tuesday, March 6^th in the House chamber. This legislation reflects our concerns in protecting merit, protecting jobs and enacting a new pay system. Read the statement on HB 1321 by WINS Executive Director Scott Wasserman and President Paul Boni. 

For Immediate Release: March 6, 2012

For More Information: Scott Wasserman, 303-619-3734 or Laura Chapin, 202-236-6161

Statement by Colorado WINS on the Personnel Reform Bill Introduced Today

House Bill 1321, introduced today, would reform the Colorado personnel system. Colorado WINS, which represents the interests of thousands of state workers, released the following statements from Executive Director Scott Wasserman and President Paul Boni. 

Stated Colorado WINS Executive Director Scott Wasserman, "We've been active participants in the conversation and our goal throughout has been to protect merit, protect jobs and fight for a new pay system.

After four years of devastating cuts, freezes, and increased demand for services, it's no exaggeration to say that the entire state workforce is in crisis. We think there's a very important change in this bill that addresses that fact and gets us on the road to fixing longstanding problems.

There are also some proposals in this bill that are not of our choosing and we worked hard with our members and leadership to make tough calls and figure out how to carefully balance the concerns of management with those of front line workers.

We will be watching the process carefully to ensure that harmful amendments are defeated and that state employee issues are not turned into a political football. This legislation presents lawmakers with an opportunity to learn more about the workforce that carries out the work that makes Colorado a great state to live and work."

And according to Colorado WINS President Paul Boni, ""When Governor Hickenlooper approached us for our input on his proposed personnel reforms, we made the decision to commit to this conversation with both workers and taxpayers in mind. We held dozens of meetings with state workers all across Colorado to determine the top concerns and to prioritize our agenda.

I believe our input was taken seriously and that the talent agenda has evolved into a more complete approach to workforce issues. There's much more we need to do and I think both the Governor and Director Nesbitt have a fuller understanding of that work that lies ahead. "

                                                           # # #

Formed in 2007, Colorado Workers for Innovation and New Solutions (WINS) represents the interests of more than 31,000 classified state employees working together to ensure Colorado's quality of life in communities across the state.  Colorado WINS works in partnership with the state to improve quality of services, working conditions, safety, conflict resolution, staff attrition, pay and benefits and more to ensure an effective workforce that serves all Coloradans.