Category | News

Painters hung out to dry

Published on March 3, 2009 by Susan Clough and Patrick Ellrich

Campus crew feels it didn’t get the whole story about being laid off
Painters who were laid off want the answer to one question: Why?

John McGowan, Art Espanola and Don Brookshire said they feel they have not gotten the truth about why the painter unit will be eliminated.

Photo by Joseph Barbier. John McGowan, Art Espanola and Don Birkshire were part of the paint shop which will be outsourced on March 24.

The unit of four painters received a letter from Plant Operations on Jan. 23, 2009, informing them that their jobs would be terminated on March 23. The Sentinel published an article on Feb. 10, 2009, stating there was going to be a reorganization of the facilities department and elimination of the painter unit, and that the decision to do so had been made during 2007. But an email from John Anderson, assistant vice president of facilities, attributed the layoff to recent budget cuts.

“One of our biggest concerns is, which one of these stories is right?” said McGowan.

Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs Arlethia Perry-Johnson was attributed in the Feb. 10 article as saying the decision to eliminate the paint shop was made a year and a half ago. But in a recent interview Perry-Johnson wanted to make clear that decisions were made at that time only to initiate evaluations of campus operations to find ways of increasing efficiency.

“I want to emphasize that the administration would not be so insensitive as to withhold that information while knowing [the painters’] need to find new employment,” said Perry-Johnson.

She said this re-engineering process had nothing to do with recent budget cuts due to the economy.

“I immediately called the reporter to make a correction,” said Perry-Johnson.

Perry-Johnson did not contact any member of the editorial board about making sure the correction was printed.

“The re-engineering process was on its own trajectory, separate from budgetary reductions,” said Perry-Johnson.

However, an email to the facilities staff from Anderson stated, “As you know, our budget was reduced last year even though we continue to construct or lease new facilities to accommodate increasing student enrollment. The difficult decision has been made to outsource our painting operation with a company that is already under contract.”

The painters said they felt the situation was handled improperly, saying they were never given a formal meeting with the management of Plant Operations or Human Resources to discuss their options for the future. They said it was unclear who they could contact to discuss the layoff.

Espanola, supervisor of the unit, said he was discouraged by what he felt was a lack of concern by the administration for his situation. With only two years left to retirement, Espanola said he has questions about his options. He said he was turned away from meetings with human resources and attempted to schedule a meeting with Dr. Papp, but was told such a meeting “wouldn’t do any good.”

“If the president won’t talk to me, I don’t know what else to do,” said Espanola, who is concerned about his family and unsure about his future after 31 years of service at KSU.

Espanola also said he was told he would be informed of the terms of his retirement by mail.

“The administration values every employee and realizes the layoffs come at a difficult time in the economy,” said Perry-Johnson

McGowan said he worries that layoffs in the Facilities department might put others in situations similar to the paint unit.

“I guess what I’m trying to make sure of is that this doesn’t happen to any other employee after I’m gone,” said McGowan.

The article printed on Feb. 10 can be found at ksusentinel.com.