Port to Review Janitorial Contract After Firings : Labor: Ousted airport workers present laundry list of complaints against company that took over this month.

Former janitorial workers at Lindbergh Field won a mild reprieve from the San Diego Unified Port District on Tuesday, as the Board of Port Commissioners agreed to review the contract of the Houston-based firm that fired most of the crew after assuming airport cleaning operations July 1.

However, commissioners said, the ex-employees probably won’t be rehired after being fired by World Service Co., which came under vicious attack at Tuesday’s meeting, not just from the ousted employees but from members of the board.

By unanimous vote, the six commissioners present voted to review the entire operation and company history of the firm and to decide at their Aug. 7 meeting whether, in the words of one member, to “undo” the contract.

World Service came under attack from Eliseo Medina, president of Local 102 of the Service Employees International Union, a branch of the AFL-CIO, which represents the workers. Medina cited problems that World Service has experienced in its contracts to clean the international airports in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Until recently, he said, World Service was not registered with the state to do business in California, a fact confirmed by a World Service spokesman who attended the meeting.

Cheered by the largely Latino delegation that showed up to protest the company’s action, Medina said workers were fired without cause, even though many had worked at the airport for more than a decade. He criticized the company as being anti-worker and anti-union.

World Service was awarded the contract after Port District officials said they received complaints about the cleanliness of the airport. The previous contractor was Menzies International California.

Several workers complained Tuesday that Menzies had not received the backing from a cost-conscious Port District to buy the supplies to get the job done.

“Often,” one woman said, “we were asked to clean with water and paper towels. Under the circumstances, we did the best we could.”

Joseph Mrozewski, vice president of World Service, came under intense scrutiny at the meeting from Commissioner Lynn Schenk, who chastised the firm for firing employees “without giving them even the courtesy of individual interviews.”

Schenk, who voted against the hiring of World Service when the contract was awarded, said she felt the board had acted hastily in securing the contract “when we did not have sufficient background information.”

“And now, I have serious questions about who we’re doing business with,” she said. “As a public agency, we have a responsibility to treat employees fairly and equitably. I don’t have much concern for the union, but I do have concern for treating people fairly.

“The offhanded manner by which this company interviewed these people as a group, without giving them the dignity or the courtesy of individual interviews, offends me on many levels.”

Afterward, Mrozewski had no comment.

The Rev. George Stevens appeared at the meeting on behalf of Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego), who Stevens said is “troubled” by the Port District’s record in affirmative-action hiring.

Stevens said that, of 65 janitorial employees, only 10 have been retained by World Service. But Mrozewski said World Service had retained 22 of the former janitorial employees.

“Even so,” Stevens said, “that’s 40-something people unemployed. These people have been in trouble with the National Labor Relations Board, and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and they admitted that today. Somebody with the port just didn’t do their homework, and now they’ve got a mess on their hands.”

Maurice A. (Bud) McDonald, manager of Lindbergh Field, praised World Service, saying the company represents a “marked improvement” over previous janitorial contractors, and that he is “thrilled” with its work.