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Contracted housekeepers now at Nail Technical Center

Published: Thursday, September 2, 2010

Updated: Friday, September 3, 2010 11:09

CGA housekeeping

Julysa Sosa

Juanita Leija, a contracted GCA Services Group housekeepers, cleans the restroom Thursday in Nail. Leija has been assigned to this college for a year and previously at Northwest Vista College.

A renewed contract for almost $4 million to GCA Services Group went into effect Wednesday to provide custodial services for buildings at the five Alamo Colleges.

At the August board meeting, trustees approved a $3.98 million contract to GCA Services Group to continue to provide custodial services and to use more contracted housekeepers at buildings across the district, John Strybos, associate vice chancellor of facilities operation and construction management, said.

Because campuses are increasing in size, Strybos said colleges need more housekeepers to maintain the buildings. But there is a shortage of housekeepers because of retirement and some employees moving to new employment.

He said no one is being laid off.

This college will use contract housekeepers at the academic instruction center, nursing and allied health complex and Nail Technical Center at a cost of $560,479.92.

Strybos said the academic instruction center and nursing and allied health complex have had contracted housekeepers since they opened last fall and this contract is renewing the original one.

The only building being added at this college is Nail, which has undergone extensive remodeling.

Strybos said the Alamo Colleges do not intend to hire any employees because of the implementation of a hiring freeze.

The freeze is one of 25 strategies district officials approved July 20 to save $12 million in fiscal year 2011.

Strybos said the district saves 10 percent in direct costs from working with contracted employees instead of hiring new employees.

He said the real savings are the indirect costs, such as not having human resources conducting interviews and setting up payroll, and benefits such as medical or dental insurance and participation in the state retirement system.

The district is expected to save around $27 million over the next three years.

Budget cuts began in January when Gov. Rick Perry warned agencies to prepare for a cut in state appropriations by as much as 5 percent.

In May, a memorandum from the governor's budget, planning and policy offices notified chancellors, presidents and directors of institutions of higher education to start planning and submit a schedule for a 10 percent cut for fiscal year 2012 and 2013.

Strybos could not immediately give the amount of money the district is saving by contracting these services.

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5 comments

RachRoe
Mon Sep 20 2010 10:58
Is anyone looking into the safety of the students? I'm really concerned about some of the staff who say they are employees. I got into the elevator in the Nursing building at night after class and a guy got in and started talking to me in barely understandible broken english. He said he was a custodian but he had no name tag, no uniform, I was really scared.
Anonymous
Sun Sep 19 2010 17:23
Be real Mr. Strybos says first in the Ranger article says the district saves 10% in direct then the next sentence says THE REAL SAVINDS IS INDRECT COST which is it get ur story straight. Get a real glimpse how the truth can't be told, ASK WHAT HAPPEN AT ST. PHILIPS when the President was not aware of certain buildings contracted out. Ask around how she got put on the spot without her knowledge. Many more things are being done without proper personnel being notified. The Board needs to look into these issues, what pertaniate information is being withheld from them after all they only are told what they want to be feed. Great job Ms. Fernandez and Mr. Alderete are doing, be bias. Dig deep and you will find where the monies have been going, surely not the students, nor the lower waged employees, we are getting the short end of the stck as usual.
Anonymous
Wed Sep 15 2010 11:38
Strybos says that the real savings to going contract for housekeeping sevices are in the indirect costs but he can't say what those savings are. Are we all just suppossed to take his word for it. In one Ranger articles he said that the reason for outsourcing housekeeping was because qualified housekeepers could not be found, 1 month experience and some education in a city the size of San Antonio and we couldn't find qualified housekeepers? Now he say's it's due to retirement and employees going somewheres eles? he keeps changing his story, I'm surprised the Ranger did not call him on that one.
Anonymous
Wed Sep 15 2010 09:01
Housekeeping employees are at the lowest end of the totem-pole in terms of pay, if you're going to contract why not contract where it will really make a difference in budget dollars, contract IT, or HR, or some other high-dollar do nothing department.

Trading one $8 dollar an hour employee for another is not going to make that big an impact on our budget. It's just an act to show Rick Perry that ACCD is eliminating staff.

A Faculty member
Thu Sep 9 2010 18:11
First Chance Academic Center also switched to contract houskeeping.

Second, this unethical plan isnt a savings for the tax payers, because these workers will now have their healthcare through medicade rather than the texas employee system. ACCD only saves because they dont pick up health care. There wont be any reduction in the HR budeget of rnumber of employees. Its a health care shell game. The taxpayers will still pay as the states pay the medicade program. So Gov. Perry has sucessfully moved these employees from receiving the health care that the staff and faculty receive on to welfare... nice plan Rick.







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