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By David Drucker Daily Bruin Contributor

The Los Angeles janitor pay-raise debate reached Westwood Village last week when picketing workers brought traffic at the intersection of Westwood and Wilshire Boulevards to a standstill.

But on campus, the issue is that the Anderson School doesn't use the unionized Facilities Management Services ­ instead bidding out janitorial services to the non-union Diamond Contract Services.

"Both times the contract became available, there was a bidding process," said Anderson School spokeswoman Lynn Lipinski. "The second time, the union company failed to submit a bid, so they weren't even an option for us."

When the Anderson School moved from Public Policy to its new location in 1995, UCLA's Facilities Management was underbid by Pasadena-based DCS, Lipinski added. Prior to 1995, the school used Facilities Management for its janitorial services.

But according to Bob Battle of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3299 ­ the union that represents UCLA's unionized custodians ­ the situation at the Anderson School is emblematic of an institution-wide trend to replace union employees.

"They're trying to get rid of long-term employees because it's cheaper for the university," Battle said. "The big problem for us is the fact that they're denying career university employees jobs."

Lipinski confirmed that DCS was the lowest bidder, but added, "It's my understanding that Facilities Management didn't want the work because of the late hours and the specific operations required."

Regardless of the specific arguments, the L.A. labor controversy, now in its third week, has expanded into philosophical issues of fairness. Derek Smith, owner of DCS, took issue with the idea that his employees are underpaid.

"It's not right to compare what the private sector pays to what the university pays," said Smith. "If they want to pay more than the going rate, there's nothing we can do about that."

"Our personnel who work at the Anderson School receive full health benefits of which we pick up 100 percent of the tab," he added.

Smith went on to say that a recent L.A. Weekly article inaccurately reported his employees' compensation at $5.75 to $8.00 per hour

According to Smith, they start at $6.00 per hour and top out at $8.00 plus.

Alfred E. Osborne Jr., associate professor of business economics at Anderson, who specializes in entrepreneurial studies said the issue of "fairness" is irrelevant.

"Any employer who pays more than what the market will bear is giving away value," said Osborne. "The market tells you what a job is worth."

Osborne also pointed out that recent immigrants, who are among the statistical leaders in new small business start- ups, will be ultimately hurt the most by artificial wage increases.

"Starting small businesses is an easy way to get assimilated into the economy," Osborne said. "If you raise costs, it's harder for immigrants to move into the entrepreneurial sector."

Osborne also questioned the fairness of locking non-union employees out of jobs by restricting university contracts to union companies.

But Battle explained that the AFSCME is concerned for non- union workers as well.

"The union is concerned about everybody," Battle said. "We want everyone to be paid a living wage and receive the benefits they need to take care of their families."

"Non-union companies are exploiting their workers' situations by paying them less," he added.

Smith, whose company also has contracts with California State University Long Beach, CSU Mission Beach and Cal Poly Pomona, disagreed.

"I started this company in 1992 by investing most of my personal savings, and took two and a half years before I was able to pay myself a salary," he said.

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