ANNALS OF LABOR Naval custodians get a rude awakening BY SARAH GOLDSTEIN

After working 17 years as a custodian on the Naval Station Newport, US Navy veteran Steve Cote found himself out of a job. The cleaning subcontractor responsible for the base changed, and Cote, along with the rest of the 24-person UNITE-HERE, Local 217, custodial crew, was dropped for a new, non-union team on May 31. Contractors not uncommonly bring in their own workers without advanced notice — especially when replacing organized labor. (In Providence, janitors continue to push for a 90-day delay in firing workers when contractors change.) Still, this case is unusual since some of those laid off are veterans or had clearances allowing them to enter high-security areas on the base without a government escort.

The Local 217 workers were allowed to apply for positions with Aid Maintenance, the new cleaning contractor, but they say they received no response. For a Navy veteran like Cote, losing his Naval Station job feels particularly unfair. "I feel betrayed by the government," he says. "I had clearance and everything; I thought vets had preference on a military base." Dave Sanders, a spokesman at the Newport base, says the base hired Pawtucket-based Aid Maintenance because it was the lowest bidder. "We simply provide the contractor with what our requirements are, and leave up to them how many employees they need to meet those requirements," he says.

Local 217 has filed an unfair labor practice complaint, alleging that Aid Maintenance is refusing to hire the former workers to avoid recognizing the union. But union organizer Jenna Karlin is pessimistic that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will find fault with the company. "The burden of proof for breaking the law is very high," she says. "The law is weak, and Aid Maintenance was very careful and very smart."

Asked why Aid Maintenance would not want to hire workers with long-term experience on the job, company owner Ken Loiselle, repeatedly offered the adage "Old dogs, new tricks." Loiselle says his company is not in the practice of hiring previous employees, regardless of how long they have been working at a location. As it happens, Loiselle’s "new dogs" are mostly immigrants, which, for many of the mostly American-born Local 217 workers has added insult to injury.

Lorraine DeCosta who, like Cote, had worked on the base for 17 years, and who also had a security clearance, says, "He’s [Loiselle] got a lot of immigrants working who don’t know their rights. We wouldn’t take those conditions — the low pay . . . — we know our rights." She stressed that she does not mean to blame the new workers themselves, but still considers it unjust that jobs on an American Naval base went to non-native workers.