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NewsvineDespite frequent complaints from student groups and event planners about rising room-rental costs on campus, American Building Maintenance, the company that cleans University buildings, maintains that rental fees are no higher than in past years.
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“Since we are under an eight year contract with Stanford, we are not allowed to increase costs,” said Jose Gonzalez, operations manager for ABM. “Our costs have stayed the same since we began working with Stanford in 1995.”
Gonzalez added that ABM had to charge the same prices even when the wages of janitors increased, without even accounting for inflation.
“Our janitors are union employees, and ABM swallows any wage hikes they receive,” Gonzalez said.
The recent increase in room-cleaning costs may be due to a greater number of group meetings and events taking place on weekends when costs are higher. More food served in rented rooms also translates into expensive cleaning services.
“We charge more on weekends and when food is provided because it usually takes more time to clean up,” Gonzalez said.
Several ABM employees commented that students always seem to be satisfied with the services ABM provides.
“As far as I know, we have not received any complaints about prices or services from Stanford,” Gonzalez said.
He added that a group of Stanford students has organized a program to teach janitors English. According to Gonzalez, these classes were initially taught two days a week through the “Habla el Dia” and “Habla la Noche” programs. Currently, with the support of ABM, the union and increased funding, a third day of classes is taught by a professional instructor.
“Even during the holidays classes are still in session, as the professor teaches all three days,” Gonzalez said. “The fact that these students are spending time to teach our janitors probably indicates that they are pleased with the service.”
Despite the criticism of some students, many others have expressed satisfaction with ABM.
“I am thankful that the cleaning company is providing us the service,” said sophomore Casey Irvin, member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which rents space for meetings.
Those who are unhappy with the current rental fees contend that the University should cover these costs.
“When I was at Vanderbilt University, we did not have to pay for renting rooms,” said Ibrahim al-Mojel, a third-year graduate student in management science and engineering and president of the Islamic Society of Stanford University. “If departments do not have to pay to use classrooms, then Stanford should cover the costs of renting rooms for student groups.”