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Health & Fitness

School custodians will rally -- again -- to keep quality services and good jobs in Malden!

Custodians support proposed transfer from School Dept. to City's Public Facilities Dept.

Malden's school custodians -- who are fighting to save quality services and local jobs -- will rally again on Tuesday, June 3 at 6:30 PM at the Malden Center T station (corner of Pleasant and Commercial Streets).  After the rally, the custodians and their supporters will attend the scheduled City Council meeting at 7:00 PM in Malden Government Center. 

On May 6, the City Council voted unanimously that the jobs of "janitors and cafeteria workers not be privatized."  But a week and a half later, on May 19, the School Committee ignored the Council's view and voted to approve a 2014 - 2015 school budget outsourcing the custodians' jobs.

With that vote, the School Department's budget must now be approved by the City Council. 

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In a move to save the custodian's jobs, Councillor Neil Kinnon proposed transferring oversight of the school custodians to the Public Facilities Dept. at the May 27 City Council meeting.  Councillor Kinnon also proposed reducing the School Department budget by $1,371,285 (an amount equivalent to the total allocation for school custodial services) and increasing the appropriation to Public Facilities by $1,371,285 to allow for the supervision and oversight of the school custodians.  Finally, Councillor Kinnon proposed that the Mayor increase the appropriation to Public Facilities by $600,000 to adequately fund school maintenance activities.

The proposal to put the custodians in Public Facilities narrowly lost by a 5 to 6 Council vote.  Councillors Darcangelo, Kinnon, Nestor, Murphy and Spadafora voted for it.  Voting against were Councillors Anderson, Crowe, DeMaria, Matheson, Sica and Ultrino. 

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However, in an eleventh hour move to bring the parties together, Councillor Ultrino filed a "motion to reconsider" on May 28 within the allowed 24 hour period after the vote. At the next Council meeting, members will vote on re-opening the discussion.  If that vote prevails, it will bring the ordinance back before the Council just as it was the moment before the vote was taken.

"This reconsideration would allow us the chance to look into placing these employees in the correct department," said Ultrino. 

All of the City Council members have been invited to speak at the June 3 rally and explain how they intend to follow through on their May 6 unanimous resolve to stop the outsourcing of these jobs. 

If just one city councillor changes their vote, the custodian's jobs could be saved.  

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