Officer's union upset over quick hiring of temps

Unfair labor practice charge filed with regional office

In the aftermath of the recent assault in Fairchild Hall, the Office of Safety and Security hired a crew of temporary officers, an action that has not gone unnoticed by the officer's union.

The Oberlin College Security Association (OCSA) union has complained about changes in the service roster. "Most people I could ask would rather have two officers on patrol in the daytime and four at night. But," said Keith James, director of safety and security, holding up the patrol roster, "We have three on every shift now. I want to change that, but they [the union members] don't like that."

According to International Union Representative Sandy Naples, OCSA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Region Eight Office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Cleveland. Naples stressed that she hopes the College works with the NLRB to resolve these issues.

Officer Dianne Mahar is treasurer for the OCSA union. "I have worked here for fifteen years now and I and others have really put our hearts into this job," she said. "This is a really bad time for us and I don't want it to look as though we have anything but the students' safety and best interests at heart." Mahar declined to comment in detail about union relations with the Office of Safety and Security.

Many of these changes in service, which is the main point of conflict, date back to the fall of 1996, when James began his tenure as office director. He introduced a policy of shift rotation and also introduced a shift from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Subsequent to this, Officer Lee Kapucinski, an officer for eleven years, resigned, citing rotating shifts and a hostile work environment as explanations for her resignation.

She felt that the rotation of shifts, and this 'midnight shift' in particular, was so fatiguing that she had to take three months medical leave to recover from active service. Furthermore she claimed that, upon asking her co-workers what they felt about the practice, she was reprimanded by James.

"My position is very difficult," James said. "We provide a service to the entire campus and our office is open twenty-four hours a day. My assistants and I are here sometimes for twenty-three hours."

Speaking about difficulties in reorganizing the service roster, he said, "When you look at the Security office and when you look at another office, there is this perception that you have so many staff, but the reality is that officers respond to fire alarms, to escort students. So basically, what you end up having is two people, myself and an assistant director, doing most of the paperwork."

"I also have those to deal with," he said, pointing to a large stack of grievances filed by officers on the security payroll. James' personal responsibilities include the adjudication of such grievances. James also cites the stricter enforcement of parking regulations, the drive to increase automobile registration within the township and the fact that the office's normal operations generate constant paperwork as other reasons why he and his staff are overburdened by clerical responsibilities.

James maintained that, despite difficulties, "we had to respond to [the assault] despite the fact that we were short on staff." James has been trying to fill three vacancies since before the attack. One vacancy was left by Officer Ralph Francis, who was promoted to Supervisor, another by the resignation of Officer Mike Cutler and the third is an intermittently vacant, part-time position in the Museum. One of the positions was filled on September three by Amy Eckhart, who has received peace officer's training.

James wants to focus patrols around the evenings and times when students are most sparsely located and furthest from the center of campus.

"During the day, when you have the general milling of people and events around campus, crimes are less likely to occur. There are more witnesses and more people to assist. I'll put more resources where they are most needed," he said.