Every single day, Auburn accumulates trash, dirt and dust.
In the classrooms, bathrooms and hallways, there is everything from apple peels to Starbucks cups.
This trash doesn’t just disappear; it is left for Auburn’s custodial staff to clean up.
Every morning, Monday through Friday, Jessie Stinson rises at 3:30 a.m. to get ready for the day.
Her shift starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m.
Most of the time, when she comes to the University in the mornings, there is trash everywhere.
“All of the classrooms have trash cans, but there will still be paper, food and trash everywhere,” Stinson said. “Some people just don’t think about anybody but themselves.”
The custodians are responsible for vacuuming and mopping all floors, as well as taking out all of the trash and dusting all surfaces.
Linda Payne, also a University-employed custodian, said her job doesn’t end at 1:30 p.m.
After leaving work, she goes home to pick up her grandkids and do the rest of her household chores.
She said the days become so long and grueling that sometimes she doesn’t know if she can handle it.
“Sometimes, I’ll walk in a classroom, and I’ll see the trash, and I’ll just feel like closing the door and turning around,” Payne said.
Besides the early hours, Stinson said she believes one of the hardest parts about her job is when she is disrespected.
“When you clean the restrooms, especially the men’s, we put the signs out in front so that people know not to come in,” Stinson said. “But some young men will just walk right past you up to the urinals and do their business.”
Auburn University’s custodial staff is divided into the people who were hired through the University, and the people who were hired through Centaur Building Services, a company that provides janitorial and related services.
Auburn is currently short of custodial staff, so the custodians that do work have extra jobs and duties.
“When people leave and retire, they don’t hire more people, so we have to do their jobs too,” Stinson said.
Some of the custodial staff said they wish for some changes to be made to better improve the conditions on campus.
“I think Auburn needs to bring back all of the in-house staff [those hired through the University] because they do a better job,” said Charnita Wright, another University-employed custodian.
While rushing to class or a meeting, it is easy to throw a cup toward the trash and miss. It is also easy to take for granted that later that cup will become extra work for a custodian.
“If we don’t clean up and keep it clean, you would have to come here and sit in filth,” Stinson said. “I feel like we should get a better pay scale than what we get because, right now, we are at the bottom.”
Wright said the custodial staff was called out by the operations manager at the last meeting for not “doing as much work as they should.”
“I work through my break,” Wright said. “So if you see me sitting down, that‘s because I’m catching up on my break.”
Stinson, Payne and Wright all agreed if there was one thing they could make people understand about their job, it would be that they deserve respect just as much as the next person.
“Give me respect for my job because this is a way to provide for my family,” Stinson said. “Everybody doesn’t have the same talents, some do this and some do that. You give people respect in whatever they do because that’s their personal choice.”
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