{"id":18168,"date":"2021-07-16T18:44:19","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T18:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/16\/contract-workers-protest-employment-changes-at-the-census-bureau\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:50:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:50:05","slug":"contract-workers-protest-employment-changes-at-the-census-bureau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2021\/07\/16\/contract-workers-protest-employment-changes-at-the-census-bureau\/","title":{"rendered":"Contract workers protest employment changes at the Census Bureau"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Custodial staff working at the U.S. Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, held a protest outside the building July 15 to speak out against what they\u2019re calling unfair labor practices undertaken by the contractor that manages their employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many federal agencies, the Census Bureau relies on contractors to provide custodial services for its headquarters, meaning those workers are subject to the actions of a separate employer rather than federal workforce regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the custodial staff have been working at the Census Bureau for years, but the contract managing those workers was recently transferred to Alutiiq Logistics & Maintenance Services, which kicked off collective bargaining negotiations with the employees union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese workers have been here, some of them 30 years or more. They have a pension, they have all the benefits that each worker in America should have, and this company is coming in here and they took two hours from each one of the workers every day. They want to take away the pension, and they want to change a lot of the language that protects the workers in the contract,\u201d said Jaime Contreras, vice president of SEIU 32BJ, which represents the custodial workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe think that\u2019s union busting. We think that\u2019s shameful,\u201d Contreras added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Malia Villegas, media spokesperson for Alutiiq, the contractor managed to retain 91 percent of the incumbent custodial staff during the transition, after it received the contract award in March 2021 from the General Services Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI sacrificed my health and my family\u2019s health for this job,\u201d laid-off worker Dunia Orteja said in a news release. \u201cI\u2019m about to lose my house, and without income I won\u2019t be able to feed my kids or afford my asthma inhaler.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Contreras, the reduction in hours for the remaining workers \u2014 from eight to six hours a day \u2014 means those employees accrue less vacation time and sick leave. He added that the company also wants to remove language in the collective bargaining agreement that would protect an employee\u2019s job for 90 days if that individual had to deal with immigration problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workers also don\u2019t have health insurance because they have yet to come to a contract agreement with Alutiiq.<\/p>\n\n\n\t