Hotel housekeeper confesses cutting corners @ Old Faithful Inn

YELLOWSTONE, WY — Allison Rupp, who worked as a housekeeper at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, provides insight about what a hotel housekeeper does, or does not do, on a daily basis, according to Yahoo!.


Allison admits to cutting corners everywhere possible; instead of vacuuming, she would simply pick up larger crumbs from the carpet, and instead of actually cleaning a sink, she would simply dry it off to make it appear clean, the story stated.


Rupp said: "If housekeepers were paid more than minimum wage — and the tips were a bit better — I might have cleaned your toilet rather than just flushed it. I never skipped changing the sheets. I wouldn't sink that low, no matter how lazy I was feeling."


Rupp explains that many of the rooms she was required to clean were virtual bacterial wonderlands that caused her to contract the flu twice in one year, the story noted.


She proclaims that even a nice tip, though very rare in her experience, did little to change her work ethic or compel her to perform her job more thoroughly, the story added.

Personal Note:
Makes you think... if one person does this at this inn, then most likely there are more people at this location doing this. I'd stay away from this inn. Read the entire story by clicking the title.

Internal investigation of county cleaning contract

WILKES-BARRE, PA — An internal investigation into how the wife of a suspended court administrator began providing cleaning services for the county is being conducted, according to The Standard Speaker.

The county Children and Youth Services agency violated the county's purchasing policy in 2004 when the agency awarded a contract to Debra Sharkey’s Sweep It Up Cleaning without getting price quotes from competitors, the story stated.

To date, the county has paid Sweep It Up Cleaning $23,875 for cleaning the Children and Youth office in Hazleton, the story noted.

The agency recently sought new bids for cleaning services because the agency moved into a new Hazleton office with a new lease, the story added.

According to the story, county commissioners approved the current $7,200 contract with Sweep It Up Cleaning that was awarded through competitive bidding.

Custodians protest for unpaid wages

CLEARWATER, FL — Cleaning workers picketed outside of the Mercantile building last week for wages not paid for work performed from October to December of last year, according to WTSP-TV.

Anago Cleaning Systems, the company providing janitorial services to the Mercantile building, says Star Sun Management has been behind from the beginning when workers started cleaning the building two years ago; recently, however, they have lagged further and further behind on payments, the story stated.

Anago owner Veronica Shevlin said: "When they went three months behind and now over $12,000, I got scared, so I sent them a letter of possible suspending of the building if I didn't receive the check. At that point, they threatened, telling me to get out of the building with all my equipment and my people. Otherwise, they're going to change the locks and get me for trespassing."

The company charges $4,200 a month for the cleaning services they say were not paid for October through December of 2008, a total of $12,600, the story noted.

Star Sun Management signed an agreement to repay almost $11,000 after some damages were deducted from the total, the story added.

According to the story, nothing has further transpired and it has been a week since Shelvin has heard from Star Sun Management regarding payment.

Wachovia Tower goes green

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Janitorial supply company JanPak Inc. awarded Wachovia Tower a green certification, according to the Birmingham Business Journal.

Wachovia Tower is Alabama's first CleanZone, a designation JanPak offers and manages through on-site surveys, the story stated.

Jason Moore, JanPak’s Alabama representative, said: "We began the process a few months ago with our comprehensive site survey. Based on our findings, recommendations and how ‘green’ Wachovia Tower wanted to be, we converted to environmentally friendly paper products, plastic liners, soaps, hand sanitizers and chemicals."

The program incorporates green cleaning, workplace wellness programs and cost-saving measures to reduce energy consumption, including installing energy-efficient lighting in common areas and in the parking garage and adding an automation system for the 500,000-square-foot building’s HVAC and lighting, the story noted.

The building’s facility maintenance provider, Rite Way Service, has implemented the changes in cleaning and maintenance to the building, the story added.

Larry McAlpin of Rite Way Service said: "We have been training our supervisors, floor techs and front-line personnel on how to properly use more environmentally friendly mops, microfiber cloths, dusters and vacuums. It’s a learning process for everyone, but the improved health benefits of our people, our customers, their tenants and the environment immensely outweigh the extra time spent re-training."

SEIU reduces furlough days in CA

SACRAMENTO, CA — The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000 and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have reached a tentative deal to reduce furlough days and allow state offices to remain open Fridays, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Schwarzenegger had ordered more than 238,000 state workers to take the first and third Fridays of each month off without pay to save an estimated $1.4 billion annually, the story stated.

SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker said: "In the end, the governor made concessions he did not want to make and so did we."

The agreement, which calls for union workers to take off one day a month and allows them to choose the day, applies to about 95,000 members of the SEIU Local 1000 and represents roughly a third of those ordered to take unpaid days off, the story noted.

According to the deal, which must still be ratified by the unionized state workers and would cover the employees through June 30, 2010, workers would give up two paid state holidays — Lincoln's Birthday and Columbus Day. State offices would be open for business on those days and employees who work them would not be paid overtime. In return, union workers would receive two additional personal days off.

The governor still has the option to order more furlough days if state finances deteriorate further, the story added.

UnitedHealth Group receives LEED Gold certification

MINNETONKA, MN — UnitedHealth Group's new 10-story building is one of only eight commercial buildings in Minnesota to have earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, according to Finance and Commerce.

The building incorporated environmentally friendly designs like reusing storm water runoff, installing low-flow water fixtures and a weather-sensitive landscaping irrigation system, and installing ergonomic employee workstations, the story stated.

UnitedHealth Group earned its gold-level certification by reaching requirements in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, sustainable materials and indoor environmental quality, the story noted.

The LEED Green Building Rating System is the most widely used environmental standard for commercial buildings and a nationally accepted benchmark for the development and operation of environmentally responsible architecture, the story added.

Even more job cuts for Dow

FREEPORT, TX — Dow Chemical will cut another 350 full-time employees from all of the company's 75 Texas plants and the administrative office, according to The Facts.

February 28 is the absolute last day a severed employee can be on-site, though many of them have already left their positions, the story stated.

Freeport plant Manager and Vice President Gary Hockstra said: "I have been impressed by the conduct and professionalism demonstrated by our employees and by our community and business partners here in Texas during this difficult period."

Each of the affected employees have been notified and both union and non-union employees will receive a severance package upon their release, the story noted.

Plants in Texas ran at about 35 percent capacity in December, but production had increased to about 60 percent by late January; weak demand, however, forced Dow to cut costs by laying employees off, the story added.