Representatives from the new company taking over some of Northwestern’s janitorial contracts met with workers on the Evanston Campus on Tuesday to alleviate confusion about the application process.

“It’s kind of a lengthy process and sometimes confusing,” said Ron Kirsch, vice president of Illinois operations for American Building Maintenance Industries, Inc. (ABM), which will start overseeing operations at NU on Dec. 1.

Spanish and Polish interpreters and a representative from Service Employees International Union, Local 1, have attended meetings this month to ensure employees understand all necessary paperwork, Kirsch said.

Chester Jones, who will be the ABM facility manager at NU beginning in December, said he hopes the meetings will help workers finish their contracts.

“We’d like to get them all hired, but it’s difficult with the processing,” Jones said.

Workers affected by the contract change are union members hired as employees of Kimco Corp. and Aramark Corp., the companies with which NU currently contracts.

Although some workers worried they might lose benefits such as health care, any company that takes over operations at a site is required to follow the terms established by the Chicago-based Local 1, Kirsch said.

“We have no business without these people, so they’re going to get fair treatment and the benefit of the doubt,” he said.

The union members are guaranteed to retain the same benefits and wages spelled out in the union contract, he said.

But some workers unfamiliar with union terms were uncertain about how they will be affected by the switch to ABM, said Maeno Dominguez, a representative for some of the Latino workers.

“(Workers) are worried because they don’t want new regulations brought in, but we’ll have to wait,” Dominguez said.

In November 2000, NU janitorial staff threatened to strike during negotiations for higher wages and improved benefits. At that time, Local 1 and the companies reached an agreement that prevented a strike.

This year ABM began holding gatherings like Tuesday’s meeting after confusion arose when workers on some shifts were informed of contract changes and others were not.

“There is a large number of employees, and (ABM) just can’t get to everyone at once,” said Mick Schwartz, NU’s manager of custodial services.

After the latest string of meetings, ABM has reached almost all prospective employees, Kirsch said. “Everybody that we know about has an application,” he said.

Transitions to new companies are comMonday, said Nancy Cross, Local 1’s vice president for communications. But because Kimco and Aramark have been working at NU for such a long time, workers might not be used to the process of change, she said.

“We’re very concerned to make the transition go smoothly,” Cross said.

The shift in management only affects janitorial employees in non-residential buildings, not those working in dorms, Schwartz said.

She added that because the workers are not NU employees, the university is not directly involved in the workers’ application process.

“The responsibility for communication is with the contractors,” Schwartz said. “Northwestern itself doesn’t have a responsibility to notify (workers).”

The Daily’s Laura Lopez contributed to this report.