UW officials, under pressure from facilities workers and their union to increase maintenance staffing, said the $1 billion also includes complete overhauls and upgrades of mechanical and building systems, so hiring more employees won’t fix the problem.
UW, like many other universities, saw its maintenance budget cut as a result of decreased state funding during the Great Recession, but 70% of existing UW maintenance workers have complained that university management has misused whatever maintenance budget there is rather than adding necessary staff.
