Comments of three custodians who participated in the project

Here are the comments of three of the custodians who participated in the project. These custodians trained me and the students. They supervised our work as we did their job. Their comments were written in Arabic, and translated by Enas Abdel Azim. I thank her for her support. 

 

1. Hend Nabil Moustafa Soliman:

I would like to thank you Dr. Warigia for what you did, and I want to tell that I  have a wonderful feeling of your interest in custodians and their work and thiking of them. I am realy impressed of your act and it proves that not the whole community is avoiding us and there are some people who cares about our feelings and our efforts to serve the AUC community. In addition I wish to see other staff members and AUC students thinking the same way you did. Many Thanks

 

2. Seham Ashraf Abdo:

I am very happy with what happened cause it made me feel that my job is an important one in the society, and I wish if everyone in the university experience the same feeling as you did. Moreover your experience motivated me to do a better job and to be proud of myself. Many Many Thanks

 

3. Ahmed Al-Tantawy:

I am very happy with what happened cause this situation made me feel the respect and the interest of a faculty member towards my job. I got a very positive feeling about my job  and I feel now it is an important one as any other job at AUC. I wish everyone in the university have the same feeling that you showed to us and to our job.

 

Comments of Hossam Abou ElHoda: A Shift Supervisor

عزيزتى دكتور/ أورجيا

أولا أحب أن أشكرك و أشكر كل من شارك معك فى المشروع الذى قمتم به بأداء دور عمال النظافه لأنكم بهذا قد شعرتم بما يشعر به العامل من مجهود عضلى و نفسي و كم هو حجم المعاناه التى يعانيها العامل فى العمل فى مؤسسه بحجم مؤسستنا الموقره الممثله فى الجامعه الأمريكيه بالقاهره وأتمنى أن تكون تلك الرساله التى حملت على عاتقكم أن تصل لكل أفرد الجامعه من موظفيها وطلابها ودكاتره لكى يعرفوا أن العامل هنا يعمل من أجل راحة الجميع ساعياً بذلك وراء رزقه و ليس غير ذلك

أخيراً أحب أن أشكرك و أشكر المجموعه  فرد فرد

وأتمنى لكم التوفيق

 Dear Dr /Warigia

First I would like to thank you and thank everyone who participated with you in the project, which you have done to perform the role of the cleaners for you this may feel as felt by the worker lot of muscle and psychologically and how big is the suffering experienced by the worker to work in an organization the size of our venerable actress in the university AUC and I hope that that message brought to you by the reach of each singled out from the university staff & students and doctors in order to know that the worker is working here for the convenience of everyone seeking it behind his living and not the other
Finally I would like to thank you and thank the individual group member
I wish you luck

Comments by Fatma Soliman: A Custodian Team Leader

عزيزتى د / وريجيه

                                       أود أن أشكرك على المشروع الذى قمتم به و بأدائكم دور عمال النظافه الذى أعتبره أنا شخصياً رساله لكل فرد من أفراد الجامعه لتوضيح دور العامل و مدى أهميته فى الجامعه ليتم تغيير النظره إليه و يتم النظر إليه على قدر أهميته لهم و أيضاً أن يصل الإحساس بالمجهود المبذول من العامل و الذى ظهر على أدائكم أثناء المشروع و ظهر أيضاً من خلال اللقاءات مع أفرد المشروع الذين أثنوا على العمال كثيرا و على المجهود و كيفية تحمل ذلك على مدار اليوم و أيضاً كمية العمل المطلوبه منهم و كيفية إنجازها على ما يرام
أخيرا أتقدم إليك بكل الشكر و التقدير لك و لكل من ساهم معك فى هذا المشروع و أتمنى لك أن تكونى سباقه فى مثل هذه الأمور
و تفضلوا بقبول فائق الإحترام

فاطمه سليمان
BECقائد فريق العمل بمبنى الـ   

                              

                               

Dear Dr / reggae

                                        I would like to thank you for the project, which you have done and Performing role of cleaners, which I consider myself a message for each member of the university to clarify the role of the worker and how important the university is changing the perception of him and is seen as much importance to them and also to reach a sense of effort exerted of the worker, who appeared on your performance during the project and also emerged through interviews with those who singled out the project praised the workers' lot and the effort and how to carry it throughout the day and also the amount of work required of them and how to accomplish just fine.

 
Finally, I extend to you all the thanks and appreciation to you and everyone involved with you in this project and I wish you the racer that you may be in such matters. 

 
And Yours

Fatma Soliman
Team leader in BEC Building

Initial suggestions regarding how to improve the custodians' working conditions

Here are some suggestions by Amira regarding how to improve the working conditions of the custodians. I will be soliciting suggestions from other students on their thoughts, and will also be writing down my own ideas. 

1.      Develop an evaluation form whereby custodians can evaluate their supervisors and team-leaders the way students evaluate their professors. The evaluation should be taken seriously and considered in future career advancement.
2.      The career track of custodians should be revised and increase at least the levels of employment by which they can get promoted every 3 or 4 years or based on their performance.
3.      The AUC kinder-garden needs to reconsider its policy regarding the enrollment of the custodians’ children.
4.      After everyone submit his/her personal thoughts about the issue maybe we can develop a report that should be sent to Dr. Lisa Anderson for review.

General remarks regarding the custodians

1.     These remarks were written by a student who conducted several of the custodian interviews, Amira. She did a lovely job, and compiled a very thoughtful report. Here were her thoughts after concluding the interviews.

1.      I was surprised that none of the custodians mentioned anything about increasing their salaries even though I asked them indirectly about it several times.

2.      All the custodians really need to be treated with dignity. All they asked for was to be treated as human beings.  
3.      They were really happy with the project and each one of them individually told me that they hope that all the students at AUC can do this as well so that they get an idea of how hard their work is.  
4.      If we can’t get everyone at AUC to do a similar project they would appreciate it if we disseminate the video and they believe it would give staff an idea of how hard their work is and that we’re all the same.  
5.      They were extremely happy with the fact that we were wearing the uniform; because obviously that is the way many staff and faculty categorize them as inferior.
6.      The main requests of the custodians: equal treatment, their voices should be heard if they complaint about a supervisor or a team-leader, they should have the same rights as staff.

Things custodians do not like about their job at AUC

Two of the students interviewed custodians in private. These interviews were conducted off camera. These were the things the custodians do not like about their work at AUC. 


1.      The way some staff & Faculty treat them as inferior or from lower-classes. They specifically mentioned that students treat them great and are usually very friendly. However, many staff members and some faculty don’t even look at them and several reported that they make them feel “invisible”. As they told me one of the staff members in the building repeatedly said that “she doesn’t want to see this uniform anywhere”.  The girls specifically told me, “we’re not just the uniform we wear, we are human beings.”
2.      If any theft happens anywhere, custodians are the first group to be accused. They specifically mentioned that they are not thieves and it is very humiliating to be considered thieves just because they are poor.
3.      Both foreign students and faculty treat them better than Egyptians do. Egyptian Staff specifically was the center of their complaints, some don’t want to look at them and others talk to them in an extremely arrogant way only to give them commands.
4.      They are not allowed to evaluate any of their supervisors or team leaders. If a team leader is being unfair and they go ahead to complain they best thing that can happen is that the custodian will be transferred to another work station but nothing will happen to the team leader even if all the custodians working with him complain.
5.      They mentioned the “Elevator Incidence” and how some faculty and staff wouldn’t allow them to get into the elevator with them. They no longer ask for permission, if they see faculty or staff in the elevator they would just wait there until it’s empty. They also told me about how Dr. Warigia is really friendly with them and that she once called them in to join her in the elevator, this made them extremely happy.
6.      The chemicals they use in cleaning are extremely strong. The guys told me about an incidence were one of their colleagues was almost suffocated after smelling one of the chemicals.
7.      Staff always comes first. If they are standing in the line to get paid at the finance office, they have to wait until the staff gets their payments first even if they were there before them.
8.      All of the custodians interviewed complained about the buses. They are not allowed to ride the staff & faculty buses. Once their bus was supposed to arrive at 8 p.m.  it was 10:30 and the bus wasn’t there and so they asked if they could get on the student’s bus but the supervisor refused. They didn’t know what to do and were completely lost until one of the students insisted that they ride on the bus “we won’t just leave them there, we’re all girls” she said. The student refused to get on the bus until all the custodians get on as well. They appreciate her attitude very much. They also complained about the quality of the seats and that if a seat was misused they automatically blame the custodians even though it might have been that way even before they got on the bus. Also, the buses don’t have AC and some trips home last for 2 hours or more.
9.      The university used to give them meals that were horrible to the extent that they were thrown away. However, they reached a settlement by which the university cancelled the meals and added the money to their salaries. Now they bring their own food from home.
10.   There is no room for growing. Their job entails two levels and they are promoted to level 2 after around 15 years and then they only get a raise of 50 L.E.
11.   The women are supposedly allowed to enroll their kids in the AUC kinder garden however not one of them ever succeeded in doing so. Whenever they go they are told that there are no vacancies and the nursery will inform them once there is. At the same time they would accept faculty and staff kids automatically and without any waiting lists.
12.   Several workers live in the city of Menoufia which is 2 hours away from the AUC campus. They told me they had to lie in the interview about their living place because they only accepted workers living in Greater Cairo. However, now that around 30 of them live in Menoufia it might be possible that the university delegate a bus to them. They said they pay 6 L.E. daily to come to work out of their salaries.
13.   The deductions that are made from their salaries are huge considering that they get paid a gross sum of 1100 and around 300 L.E. are deducted for medicare and pension.

What do the custodians like about their work at AUC?

We interviewed various custodians about their work at AUC. We asked them what they liked, what they did not like, and what suggestions they have for improvement. Here are there answers about what they do like about their work. 

Things Custodians like about their work at AUC

1.      The team is supportive and understanding
2.      The team leaders are cooperative and treat them well
3.      The environment is good. They work in a nice place with decent people
4.      They are respected and they don’t have to deal with problems they face working in shops or restaurants such as harassment.
5.      Supervisors and Team Leaders take good care of them and especially their dignity; they take very seriously false accusations and reports of harassment.  They are allowed to call Mr. Mohamed Mostafa anytime if they face any problem and he works to get them out of it.
6.      Supervisors care about their health; they changed the floor mops to new ones that they don’t have to bend their backs while using.
7.      The English courses they are allowed to take is a great opportunity to all of them. The students that tutor them are great and bring them notebooks and pens. They also greet them whenever they meet even if it is outside campus. The students are very proud of how the custodians improve their language skills and treat them with respect. At the graduation, their supervisors attend as well as Dr. Brian and are usually really proud of them.
8.      The Labor Day party is great because they are allowed to bring their families and the university organizes a party for them. This isn’t done by many employers.
9.      The University gives then treats in Eid Al Fitr and Al Mawlad Al Nabwi which are the same for everyone staff and custodians.