UGA Campus Workers
Campus Workers Suffer During Pandemic Due to UGA’s Negligence
By Mia Watson
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, University of Georgia employees have been hard at work. While praise is well-deserved, action is necessary. As UGA workers are forced to take on more duties to keep the university running during a pandemic, wages remain stagnant, the administration remains silent and working conditions remain unsafe.
At the beginning of the semester, UGA made national headlines as it became the university with the most COVID-19 cases in the country. Despite the administration blaming certain mishaps on decisions made by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, other schools under USG took more proactive approaches to combat the spread of COVID-19.
“It wasn’t like it was impossible to foresee this or to have come up with this kind of plan where it was requiring this superhuman ability -- no,” said United Campus Workers of Georgia-UGA co-chair Justin Simpson. “Other universities did it. Just in the state of Georgia alone, they were testing students before they returned to campus rather than starting on the first week. There seems to be obvious ways that we could’ve better ensured health and safety.”
Citing the Freedom of Information Act, the UGA administration explained that instructors are not allowed to inform their students of positive cases in the classroom. Yet, other schools in Georgia instructed their faculty to do just that.
“Lo and behold, other schools -- I think it might’ve been Georgia State and maybe Georgia Tech -- were instructing their teachers to do the exact opposite, where if someone tests positive, to notify their class by just saying ‘Hey, someone in general tested positive,’” Simpson said.
The lack of transparency is not isolated to the classroom -- it extends to workplaces as well. David Nickel, a member of UCWGA-UGA, noted that in facilities management, revealing positive COVID-19 cases is at the discretion of management.
“The protocol in facilities is that if you know for a fact you have been around someone that has a positive case of COVID, you do not have to do anything about that, you do not have to go get tested, you don’t have to worry about it unless you show symptoms,” said Nickel. “You could work with someone who’s just been tested positive and your boss will not tell you to leave and go get tested.”
Nickel also stated that when he informs his coworkers of positive cases around the workplace, “nine times out of ten, they are unaware of the case.” Simpson expressed a similar sentiment, citing stories he has heard through the union.
“There’s definitely stories or rumors that you hear about where it’s not made crystal clear to workers that someone tested positive such that it would be the way to protect everyone’s safety,” said Simpson.
Among other frustrations, workers are also demanding fair wages. According to both Simpson and Nickel, most people’s workload has increased dramatically in the wake of the pandemic. Despite the extra work and risk to health, the UGA administration refuses to institute benefits such as hazard pay.
“If you’re asking a custodian to clean twice as much, or do more rounds where they now have to disinfect everything two times a day instead of one time a day, whatever it is, then they’re doing twice the work and you’re still paying them the same wage,” Simpson said. “If I’m investing 10-15 hours more in my teaching every week and I’m still getting paid the same stipend, then that’s called exploitation. You’re stealing from me and you’re stealing from your workers.”
In a survey conducted by a UGA journalism student in September, 80% of respondents said they did not feel properly informed about what was happening in their workplace. 60% said they were not being offered any hazard pay, paid time off or safety benefits.
“Morale was already in the dirt before this started. And here we are with this, knowing that there isn’t a raise in sight. Knowing that our 3% that we were getting every year is not a guarantee,” said Nickel.
According to the New York Times, UGA has the fifth highest amount of COVID-19 cases among universities in the nation. Simpson noted that cases are also going up among workers.
“It seems from the administrative point of view, there’s nothing to be alarmed about and that they’ve been doing great work and that we’re in a pretty safe working condition,” said Simpson. “I mean, when you see cases among workers as well as cases among Athens citizens going up, I mean I don’t think that that would be time for victory or something like that.”
COVID-19’s spread on campus is alarming. According to Nickel, almost every shop on the main campus has been afflicted with the virus. At his work in facilities management, the story is similar.
“We’ve had an average of about 1-2 emails a week about a case in facilities somewhere on campus, but, like I said, that’s also at the discretion of the foremans and supervisors, so I don’t know if we’re getting all of those or not. We’re not gonna know the truth about what’s been going on behind the scenes until this dies down finally and we get Freedom of Information Acts emailed,” said Nickel.
Even with a high amount of infection, the UGA administration is pushing forward with in-person instruction in the spring. With the cancellation of spring break, workers are holding their breath for what may be an even more dangerous semester.
“Certain things like pushing for in-person in the spring when we’re in the third wave is just unconscionable. We see how many people have died yet we’re still playing with fire at this school,” Simpson said.
Among other mishaps, people are being sent to work despite having American Disability Act exemptions. In a survey conducted by a UGA journalism student, one respondent reported that they were afraid for their life. Due to USG policy, the respondent was forced to go to work despite having asthma. Likewise, some workers with loved ones at high risk did not receive necessary exemptions.
“I remember in the fall, people who had significant others going through chemo were denied it. That was pretty shocking,” said Simpson.
Although most UGA workers are feeling the brunt of administrative negligence, custodians and clerical staff are most at risk. Both Nickel and Simpson cited custodians as being in the most danger while going to work.
“They’re around students who have had it, or have been exposed, and then they are forced into a situation where they have no more paid sick leave or paid time off. They have to make the decision of going into work and potentially contracting it and bringing that home with them or not going to work but not receiving a paycheck,” said Simpson.
Many custodians and members of clerical staff are from the greater Athens community. According to One Athens, Athens-Clarke county is the fifth poorest county in the nation. Offering 10,700 jobs to the community, UGA is Athens’ largest public employer as reported by whyathensga.com. By refusing to institute hazard pay or enforce transparency in workplaces, UGA continues to put some of Athens’ most vulnerable citizens at risk.
“When you’re walking around campus and you’re seeing these people who are the groundskeepers, secretaries, and custodians, there’s a good chance that someone that you might be seeing is living in poverty or at the very least has a second or maybe third job to make ends meet,” said Simpson.
In the face of COVID-19, the UGA administration and USG Board of Regents neglected to create policies which would keep workers safe, accommodated, compensated or heard. With almost no opportunities for everyday employees to give feedback to higher-ups, many workers are beginning to lose trust in the university.
“People have said it for years, but UGA really doesn’t care too much about their staff and it’s glaringly apparent now,” Nickel said.
“I don’t know how in general we would think the university actually cares for its students or the health of its community as a whole,” Simpson said.