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Haitian community to back unionized Nova workers in dispute

Elected officials, activists and Haitian community members will meet tomorrow in Miami to show support for more than 300 Nova Southeastern University workers who may be on the brink of a campus labor dispute.

The meeting at Haitian Emmanuel Baptist Church, 7321 NE Second Ave. in Little Haiti, is in response to Nova president Ray Ferrero Jr.'s announcement last month that the university is reevaluating its relationship with Unicco Services Co. The Boston-based contractor employs the 350 janitors and landscapers who maintain the university's main campus in Davie.

''The community can't afford to have 105 families lose jobs,'' said Ronald Brisé, an activist and Democratic candidate for state representative who will speak at the meeting, which starts at 5 p.m. ``We're talking about nearly 800 people who will be affected in the long run.''

Event organizers say that a third of Unicco's employees at Nova are Haitian, and that mass layoffs could cause a devastating ripple throughout the larger community.

The prospect of unemployment would only compound the Nova workers' complaints over low wages and lack of healthcare, Brisé said.

Workers on the campus recently voted to create a union and had been working with organizers from the Service Employees International Union Local 11 since early spring.

But Ferrero's announcement that the university would rebid the contract came days before the workers announced their intention to unionize.

''It doesn't seem right because of the timing,'' said Hallandale Beach Commissioner Joe Gibbons, who will also speak tomorrow. ``These people deserve an opportunity to work and to make a decent wage.''

Gibbons said he is working to set up a meeting with Ferrero and union representatives.

SEIU spokesman Hiram Ruiz said the Haitian workers on Nova's campus -- many of whom are on the grounds crew -- have to endure tough working conditions. They have no break room in which to take refuge from the sun, Ruiz said.

But Doug Bailey, Unicco's spokesman, said the company had never received a formal National Labor Relations Board complaint of this sort.

David Dawson, Nova's spokesman, agreed that claims of discrimination against Haitian workers were unfounded, and that the university is currently considering a range of options, including possibly extending its month-to-month contract with Unicco.

''A private business has the right to run a private business on behalf of its customers,'' Dawson said. ``Our customers just happen to be students.''

But some area students are drumming up support for the newly unionized Unicco employees. They plan to deliver a letter on Wednesday urging Ferrero to extend the contract with Unicco.

''This is something that students will stand up and fight for across South Florida,'' said Jacob Coker-Dukowitz, a lead student organizer in the UM dispute.

Brisé said the Haitian community's economic well-being also hung in the balance during the disputes at UM and FIU, both of which ended with workers unionizing and getting wage increases and benefits.

''I would like to see that we don't have to go through a long process with Nova for them to do right by their employees,'' Brisé said.