Majority of County Cleaning Staff Calls in Sick

Good, this is making the decision to contract out services look smarter by the second.

(It's also making the county housekeepers union look petty.)

One day after the Milwaukee County Board agreed to privatize scores of county housekeepers, 19 of the 25 custodial staff at the Courthouse complex called in sick, county officials said Thursday.

Jack Takerian, the county's interim director of public works, said he didn't know for sure the reason for all the sick calls, but said it probably was a reaction to the news about their jobs going to a private firm.

"They were disappointed and they certainly have a right to be disappointed," Takerian said. "It's difficult for us to prove whether someone is sick or not," he added. "There's really no way for me to say that somebody who is depressed isn't sick."

Anyone who calls in sick for more than three days is required to provide a note from a doctor to verify the illness, Takerian said.

Kurt Zunker, president of the union local that represents the housekeepers, said he wasn't surprised by the high number of sick calls. Many may fear losing accumulated sick time if they don't take it before their jobs disappear, he said.

"That's kind of human nature, when something like this happens," Zunker said.

The County Board on Wednesday sustained several of County Executive Scott Walker's vetoes aimed at privatizing more than 90 housekeeping jobs, on a series of 7-12 votes. It takes at least seven of the 19 supervisors to sustain a veto.

The outsourcing move is estimated to save the county about $2.6 million next year. Privatizing housekeeping was one of a variety of cost-cutting moves done to try to fill an $80 million 2010 budget shortfall.