Notes from a Custodian

Cynthia, a custodian at UC Berkeley and a Palestine activist shares a personal account on the importance of solidarity between students and workers on college campuses at a UC Berkeley YDSA chapter meeting. 

Tens of thousands of UC Workers across the state have been on strike a historic FOUR times this academic year. In the face of increasingly harsh conditions, university workers are asking for the bare minimum—dignity, respect, and fairness—but UC admin continues to dismiss their concerns. To support our campus workers, Cal YDSA has launched an ambitious strike support campaign that has involved preparing hundreds of grocery bags for workers, running a hardship fund that has supported nearly 20 campus workers, and mobilizing students to the picket lines. 

The following is a personal perspective from Cynthia, a longtime custodian at UC Berkeley and a Palestine activist, whom we met on the picket lines and invited to speak at our chapter meeting.

If you want to support UC Berkeley’s workers, please donate to Cal YDSA’s grocery drive for striking workers.

Q: What are the main issues your co-workers are facing?

A: I have been working at UC Berkeley for 8 years as a custodian. I am a mother of 6 [3 college graduates], so I understand the struggles of students and the importance of having a healthy environment for learning. Management does not give custodians the tools to meet students’ needs. I feel a lot of guilt for how dirty the classrooms and bathrooms get sometimes, but I understand it’s not fair. It’s not the fault of the workers, it’s the fault of the management. The necessary chemicals and cleaning supplies are not being distributed to the workers. This means the custodians have to do much more overtime work, which is often not compensated for. Our supervisors pretend that overtime has not been communicated to avoid paying us more.

All we’re trying to do is bring home more money for our families, but management pretends we don’t follow the process correctly. There is a lot of unpaid overtime and favoritism. There is a cliquey environment that favors some workers over others, and custodians lack an adequate contract to protect them from this. UC management does not respect the rules of the current contract and the union. From all angles, this is frustrating for the workers. 

At the same time, we workers understand that the students can push the university the hardest. It’s the students’ tuition that pays for management’s luxurious lifestyle. It’s very easy for higher-ups to discard workers as mere cleaners, but they view students very differently. It’s very essential to connect worker and student struggles. At the root, it’s students and workers who make up the university–without us, it is nothing.

This is very intense and hard work that deserves to be paid adequately–all I am asking for is justice. The root of the issue comes from management. Whatever way the students can help out would be incredibly appreciated.

Q: How has this affected you personally?

A: We have 12+ hour workdays. The other workers see me as a leader and communicate their issues. I feel guilty for not being able to help them. It’s very frustrating and saddening to know there are people up top working from home who can choose whether or not we get the money to feed our kids. 

Q: Last year, you went with your union (AFSCME 3299) to protest Biden’s State of the Union address in DC over his support for Israel’s genocide. How do you view the workers’ struggle as connected to the struggle of Palestinian liberation?

A: These are memories  – I almost went to jail! I was lucky enough to go with my union to DC and stand off with police officers threatening arrests. It feels great to fight for such a just cause and to connect with other activists who are upset that our taxes are going to kill innocent people abroad. I can’t help but feel an incredible amount of frustration at the fact that decisions made by uninformed people here result in people being killed abroad. This also connects to decisions made here by higher-ups on who gets to eat. For the youth with a bright future ahead of them, it doesn’t matter what roles we fill – our future is the most important part. Students are the future and should never stop raising their voices for what they think is just. I will be with you no matter what.

Q: In what ways can the students help you and your co-workers?

A: Students’ and workers’ voices [being] united is incredibly valuable and important. This will be us signing onto a letter – we hope 100-200 students sign on. We hope this will push the management to start changing things. This united voice is more important than anything – the voice of the chancellor, who never sets foot in these halls, doesn’t matter compared to the voices of the students who live and study on campus.

Q: In our daily lives, how can we as students support custodians and make their lives better?

A: Right now, we custodians have a petition about these problems with 67 signatures that will be sent to the Chancellor. Something students can do day-to-day to support the workers is to recognize them as people – say “hi” and “thank you.” Some people in management try to warn workers about interacting with students – “don’t mess with their routines because they will report you.” This is why custodians are afraid of interacting with students or professors. We have been told these lies to stay divided. 

When I was working at Wurster Hall, one of the professors handed me a box of chocolates to show appreciation, but one of the supervisors saw this and took me to the office, claiming I was soliciting gifts. I had only been working here for a month. This is a barrier that management places on us on a mental level to prevent us from organizing with students.

There was a Nobel Prize winner on campus in the math department. The day he won his prize, he recognized me and my kids and offered us autographs. It was very nice, but the supervisors noticed it and accused me of harassing him. The professor had to write a letter to my supervisors explaining that I was not harassing him. This is a common problem faced by campus workers.

I am very grateful to see everyone here, willing to support us. I hope you will work with us to push our contract and meet our basic human needs.