Custodian Debby Hughes was walking down a hallway collecting trash on the morning of March 22 on the third floor of Crosley Residence Hall when a student ran out of the bathroom in a panic.
The student told Hughes that freshman Rebekah Dudeck was lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, Hughes said.
Hughes looked around the hallway for help and found the resident assistant, who then went to find the hall director, she said. Hughes pulled out her cell phone and called her supervisor and told her to call paramedics, she said.
Although she helped an endangered student, Hughes said she received a written warning because she violated the policy that prohibits custodians from carrying cell phones while at work.
Ball State University custodians object to the policy because they think it jeopardizes safety and is unreasonable and unnecessary. The university, however, thinks the policy is necessary to increase productivity and to keep workers from neglecting their jobs.
THE POLICY
George Edwards, associate director for housing facilities, said the university created the policy because too many employees were misusing their cell phones by making personal calls during the work day.
"Before we implemented this policy, we gave the custodians the opportunity to police themselves for about two years," he said.
The problem kept occurring, though, Edwards said, so the policy was put into place at the beginning of this semester.
"We try to make sure we provide a good service to students," he said. "We want to have a high satisfactory rate. In the last three months we've had a 100 percent satisfaction rate."
Although the satisfaction rate before the policy change was about the same, it did increase a little, Edwards said.
Employees are allowed to keep their cell phones in their lockers and use them during break periods, he said.
Brian Scott, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 293, said the union agrees that employees should not make personal calls during work hours.
The union's contention is that custodians are not allowed to use a cell phone in the event of an emergency, he said. The custodians also think the policy is unnecessary because there are separate policies about "idling and loafing," Scott said.
Union leaders said they contacted university officials about the lack of a need for a cell phone policy and whether the contracts could be changed.
Edwards said the university is looking into the costs of radios for all custodians. Supervisors and group leaders carry radios on them as a way to communicate, Edwards said.
There are three supervisors, six group leaders and a total of 68 custodians on campus.
"We do not have a problem with not allowing us to use cell phones [for personal reasons]," Scott said, "but not carrying the cell phone is complete stupidity."
LACK OF COMMUNICATION COULD BE A SAFETY RISK
In light of the Virginia Tech shooting, Scott said the union thinks it is important that custodians be able to communicate immediately. They are often the first people on the scene during an emergency because they are dispersed throughout campus, he said.
"The custodial people can be instrumental in getting information to people," Scott said. "Would not the custodians be one of the first people you would have knocking on the door? We feel that's something that ought to come to light."
Edwards said if there is an emergency, custodians are supposed to use a business phone or find somebody else with a cell phone.
"There are places within the facilities where they have access to phones," he said. "Or they can ask somebody. Usually students have cell phones. [Custodians] have adequate ways of getting to phones."
Hughes said if she had taken the time to find somebody with a cell phone or go to the custodians' phone, it would have been too time-consuming.
"There's a major communication problem," she said. "Even if we go all the way down to the basement to get to the phone on the other side of the building, we have to fight for the elevator. It's difficult to get one fast and get downstairs."
Afterwards, Hughes spoke with her supervisor, who told her not to worry about using her cell phone, she said.
"She just kind of waved it off like she didn't want to get me in trouble because this girl was lying on the floor unconscious," Hughes said.
Scott said because two other custodians complained that Hughes did not get written up for using her cell phone and they did, Hughes had to be written up.
Dudeck said when she learned that Hughes was written up she wrote a letter to the supervisor in protest and began a petition to change the policy.
"I haven't gotten too many signatures yet, but people have been signing, and they agree that [custodians] should have cell phones," she said. "The maintenance people in the same building have radios and cell phones, so I don't see why the custodians can't carry radios or cell phones."
UNION WAS NOT CONSULTED ABOUT POLICY CHANGE
Scott said every year or two union leaders meet with the supervisors to discuss the contracts, but they were not consulted about the cell phone policy change.
"We have argued many times that policies have to be negotiated," he said. "At no time have we agreed to this policy."
Edwards said the Office of Housing and Residence Life made the decision to change the policy because it was a management-only decision and did not legally require input from the union leaders.
Johnson said many of the custodians think the policy is a way for the supervisors to be controlling.
"When they came out with this policy, they rammed it down our throats," he said. "They're really tightening their grip on employees."
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