ABSTRACT
Peaches, a burly African American supervisor wearing a long-sleeve black T-shirt underneath a bright, oversized red polo shirt, grins broadly as she recounts how to explain to naive job candidates the unique aspects of campus custodial work. Today Peaches has key duty, a daily ritual that the six day-shift supervisors rotate. Peaches plops down in her chair and raises her hands above her head in an exaggerated fashion as she frantically searches for a piece of paper on her messy desk. For HU supervisors, the most challenging aspect of their job is acting as a buffer between custodians like Hazel and senior physical plant administrators. HU supervisors’ work responsibilities closely resemble those of the CU employees such as Peaches, Anna, Joanne, and Meredith. Supervisors, often critiqued by supervisors and supervisees, become highly responsible yet deskilled employees trying to broker deals between detached high-level managers and vulnerable and disgruntled workers, while also trying to keep them apart.
