Nigro yesterday blamed the B&G administration for this alleged problem claiming that the department has 150 mangagers for 306 workers.

"The workers can't get a fair contract carrying 150 management people with them," he said. "No company could run with that nation."

But Robert Saltonstall, associate vice president for operations and acting director of B&G, said yesterday administrative costs were not the primary reason the University decided to subcontract the structural work, adding the Nigar's personel figures "were not really accurate."

Precies figures for the various employee categories at B&G were unavailable.

While the department is "trying to reduce administrative costs, the University is not currently considering subcontracting other B&G work," he added.

Saltonstall took acting control of the department last November when the University launched an ongoing comprehensive study of its internal maintenance service, in response to widespread complaints of mismanagement.

While increased decentralization has improved the department's responsiveness, the University must still establish tighter financial control over the service, Saltonstall said