According to the cleaners, some ten of them will be given fewer hours. They will either have to go elsewhere to get more hours or resign themselves to reduced wages.
“Since EUR is going to implement measures designed to reduce the workload of its own employees over the next few years, we now appeal to the university’s values and ask them to reduce our workload, as well,” the cleaning ladies wrote in the petition, which they would like to submit to the university’s Executive Board. According to one of the cleaners staging the protest, work that used to be done by three cleaners is currently being done by one cleaner.
Different and more efficient
According to an Asito spokesperson, it is not true that the cleaning budget has been cut. Rather, the cleaners are assigned to their jobs ‘differently and more efficiently’. The spokesperson was unable to say what exactly that meant with regard to the cleaners’ duties. At the very least it means that they will be given fewer hours to complete their work at EUR. However, they will be considered first if they apply for any other Asito jobs at other locations. The spokesperson was unable to confirm that Asito has signed a new agreement with the university.
The EUR recognizes that it has a social responsibility towards the cleaners, as stipulated in the Code Responsible Market Conduct signed by the EUR. “We have regular consultations with Asito, the EUR has received the petition and listened to the employees’ stories, which we can not discuss in terms of content, but we take this into account in our discussions with Asito”, said a spokesperson.
