Plainfield District 202 Reaches Agreement with PASS Custodians

PLAINFIELD, IL — After months of protests and rallying, custodians with the Plainfield Association of Support Staff have officially reached an agreement with the school district. The compromise agreement could save the district about $1.8 million in custodial-related costs a year.

The agreement brings to an end speculation over whether Plainfield School District 202 would outsource its services. The district heard bids from three different vendors: Wisconsin-based ABM, Aramark and Downers Grove-based GCA Services Group. The bids received would have reduced costs between $908,000 to $9.9 million over the next three years, depending on benefits, pay rates and the number of positions employed.

Had the board not approved the contract, it would have announced the lowest possible bidder to provide custodial services.

At the Monday night Board meeting, Board of Education President Michelle Smith said she was compelled by fiduciary duty to taxpayers to fully explore the difference between existing internal custodian staffing model and the outsourcing option.

“I am happy to report that after two days of hard but collaborative work, PASS and the Board have reached an agreement that will result in significant savings for the District over the next three years and keep our custodians employed by the District,” Smith said.

PASS President John Piechocinski said in a statement that the agreement reached with the school board is bittersweet.

“Yes, we have preserved the jobs of our dedicated school custodial staff. But we did so by reducing salaries and sick leave, and by cutting the number of employees who are currently available to serve the students and schools,” Piechocinski said. “Some long-term employees had their pay reduced by 15 to 20 percent. Other custodial salaries were frozen. These kinds of reductions will make attracting and retaining great employees a more difficult challenge in the future."

Piechocinski said that he wants to assure the community of Plainfield that custodians will continue to provide the very best of service to the schools.

“We are dedicated employees who care about students, parents and the entire school community. We have appreciated the support we have received from so many. We look forward to continuing our service in the future,” Piechocinski said.

Custodians represented by PASS voted 113-8 in favor of the agreement on May 7.

Among several key provisions of the new agreement, custodial positions will be restructured, Plainfield School District 202 Director of Community Relations Tom Hernandez said. The actual number of employees will be based on specific numbers of hours of work needed to adequately maintain each building, rather than simply assigning a certain number of people to each facility.

This structure will lower the number of custodial positions, however, all non-retiring custodians will continue working for the District.

Also, certain higher-paid positions and some lower-paid positions will make less, while pay for some lower-rate positions will remain the same.

The custodial agreement will be incorporated into the new PASS contract currently being negotiated.

PASS represents about 990 non-certified support staff including some secretaries, nurses, and custodial, grounds and maintenance employees, among others. That number includes about 195 custodial positions.