A protest by UW custodians and their families yesterday made it clear to UW Custodial Services that swing-shift custodians would not move to the day shift without a fight.

Swing-shift custodians at the UW have been fighting to stay on their current shift of 4:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. since UW Custodial Services announced in March that the 85 custodians currently on the shift would be forced to move to the day shift.

As a lead in to yesterday’s special Board of Regents meeting, more than 100 people marched and chanted from Red Square to the Northlake Building, which houses the UW’s Custodial Services. The protesters blocked the front door of the building and demanded that Gene Woodard, director of Custodial Services, rescind his decision to move swing-shift custodians to the day shift or be fired.

“Gene has to go!” the crowd shouted repeatedly.

The protestors were composed of a broad scope of UW community members, including custodians, students, UW faculty and non-custodial staff.

“Time is running out,” said Mehereteab Mengistu, a swing-shift custodian who was present at the protest. “They don’t respect us.”

Swing-shift custodians are scheduled to start working the day shift this coming Monday.

The protest was fueled in part by a negotiation meeting that took place Wednesday between the union representing UW custodians, Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) Local 1488 and UW Custodial Services.

In the meeting, UW Custodial Services made it known that they were firm in their decision to transfer swing-shift custodians to the day shift.

“There is no flexibility here,” said Salvador Castillo, executive vice president of WFSE 1488. “They [UW Custodial Services] have not agreed to leave more than eight people on swing shift.”

The prevailing concern among the protesters was the impact the move will have on custodians whose livelihoods depend on them working the swing shift.

“My wife works in the daytime, and I take care of my children when she’s working,” said Neztereab Seare, a swing-shift custodian of 20 years. “Also, if I go to the day shift, my salary won’t be enough because I have child support to pay.”

Concerns like Seare’s drove the protestors to speak directly to Woodard. The protesters shouted and demanded that Woodard come out of the building to speak. With no success, the protestors attempted to enter the building, but five UW police officers stopped them.

“We knew that they were going to march,” said Assistant Chief Ray Wittmier of the UW Police Department (UWPD). “We assigned a couple of light patrol generally to provide safety while they cross the street.”

However, the officers did allow three of the custodians to enter the building to see if Woodard was there. When they came outside informing the protestors that he was not there, they began shouting “coward.”

John Frazier, WFSE 1488’s newly elected president, had control of the megaphone during the majority of the protest.

“We’re going to start setting these up all the time until this thing is done and our people are okay,” he said. “Just to make sure that, at the end of the day, our workers are treated fairly.”

The protesters left Northlake Building with one final declaration.

“We’ll be back,” Frazier yelled into the megaphone.

The majority of the crowd moved on to participate in the special Board of Regents meetings to speak to the regents on behalf of the custodians.

Student groups — including Democracy Insurgent, Jobs with Justice, First Nations and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (MEChA) — rallied at Red Square before joining the citywide May Day march for immigration rights on Friday.

May Day is an annual celebration for immigrant rights when participants express concern for better treatment of immigrant populations. However, this year, a disagreement broke out when UW police told protesters to put away their megaphones.

“They [police] came to the leaders [of the protest] and said if we continued to use the megaphone, we would be arrested,” senior Renato Mendoza said.

Police cited Code 132N-15-180 to the students, who then looked up the Washington Adminstrative Code.

“After we looked it up, we found that [the code number] was the incorrect one,” Mendoza said.

Students argued with UW police about whether or not they could use the megaphones after they researched the law police had given them and discovered that it didn’t exist. The actual Washington Administrative Code — 132N-150-180 — differed by one number from the law police had cited.

The code pertaining to megaphone use on college campuses reads, “Bull horns, amplifiers and other electronic devices that disrupt college programs or operations are prohibited on college property.”

Police reasoned with the protestors for more than half an hour before they put away the megaphones, UW Police Department (UWPD) Chief John Vinson said.

However, megaphones were used in an anti-budget cut and tuition-hike rally that took place last month and was sponsored by ASUW — the students involved in that rally, which marched through campus, were not told by police to put away their megaphones. Megaphones have also been used throughout this year by student groups such as Democracy Insurgent, Huskies for Israel and Students for Justice in Palestine, as well as for President Obama’s inauguration-day rally. In none of these instances were students told they were not allowed to use their megaphones.

Vinson said the officer who approached the students informed the group that she didn’t know how other officers previously enforced the code, but that it was her job to enforce it at that time.

“If an officer gives you a lawful order, we expect you to follow it,” Vinson said. Disobeying a college security officer giving a lawful order is considered an obstruction of justice.

After the rally in Red Square, student groups — including Democracy Insurgent, Jobs with Justice, First Nations and MEChA — joined approximately 1,000 protestors in the citywide march that began in Seattle’s Central District and ended in Pioneer Square.

Demonstrators downtown said they had no problems demonstrating for immigrants’ rights.

“We haven’t been bothered by police [in Seattle] at all,” said UW senior Elizabeth Snow during the rally. “They’re just staying on the sidewalks, making sure that everything’s okay.”