Pressuring the Administration!

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Last Thursday was a big day in the fight against budget cuts in public education.  Students, faculty and other members of campus communities rallied together in a national day of action to defend public education.  Rallies took place all over the country; and I was lucky enough to participate in the action at William Paterson University, which was organized by the WPU Young Democratic Socialists along with other student organizations.

Along with me were the WPU campus dining workers, who used their lunchtime break to come out and rally with the student protesters.  The workers, who are serviced by UNITE HERE Local 100, came out mostly as supporters of the student protests against rising tuition and other effects of cuts in funding, but also to express their concern over how budget cuts will affect their own jobs. 

It was great to see the campus workers standing in solidarity with students over student-related concerns. This expression of solidarity is the kind of moment that the Building Community Across Counters campaign is all about.  Here's a video of the student march across campus.  As you'll see participation and enthusiasm were tremendous. 

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The campus dining workers at Pomona College are fighting to win a union.  And the Pomona students have their back.  

On March 1st of this year the campus dining workers at Pomona College went public in their demand for a fair unionization process, free of employer intimidation.  Over 90% of the College's dining workers have signed a petition to the College administration demanding such a process.  Since that day the students of Pomona College have stood in solidarity with the workers.  The student-worker solidarity website, Pomona Workers for Justice has chronicled this effort every step of the way.

So far the administration of Pomona College--which employs the workers-- has refused to honor the workers' demand.  

If last semester is any indication, the students and workers will not let the College's position stand.  In just several months the Pomona Worker for Justice staged a large rally on campus, had a candlelight vigil for labor peace, organized a boycott of the cafeteria and gathered in large numbers to present their petitions to Pomona President David Oxtoby.  They also produced tremendous videos of the action.  

The petition action:

And here's the students' take on what happened at the rally:

The struggle for justice at Pomona College is right in line with how UNITE HERE and the Stir It Up campaign are fighting to change the food service industry. Expect regular updates on Stir It Up as this campaign unfolds.  And if you want to get in touch with the student-worker committee at Pomona to hear more about how they've helped organize the workers' campaign, you can do so here.  

In a long-overdue Stir It Up-date, the students and workers at Northwestern University are waging an impressive campaign for living wages for campus workers.  Though we at Stir It Up are not running this campaign, we are doing everything we can do to help out.

For now, I want to just share a few bits:

For a compelling story of the importance of living wage campaigns, read Unite Here Local 450 member Maurice Nix's column that ran in the student publications North by Northwestern and the Daily Northwestern.  Nix, known as the "sandwich guy" in Northwestern's student center and a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, writes, "Like in Birmingham in the 1960s, we are not asking for the world, we are asking for basic dignity and respect."

We encourage students from across the country to sign onto Northwestern's living wage petition and invite your friends to do the same by joining the Facebook event for the petition.

The campaign is taking an important step this Thursday -- students will deliver Valentine's Day cards to the University administration encouraging them to "have a heart" for campus workers.  

As more events unfold, we'll keep you posted.

As was the case at Hunter College, this victory was not given to the workers; rather it was earned through action and a united workforce. In September, 80 food service workers took their demands to USC President Steven Sample—sending the USC administration a message that they were willing to fight for a good contract. Here are a couple brief videos from the USC workers with their reaction to the contract victory: 

This huge step in winning real improvements in these workers’ job conditions did not happen in a vacuum, however. Students and workers have been taking action to win this agreement since the school year began, culminating with several actions the day before AVI signed the agreement. On October 22 2009, a group of students placed calls to AVI President Anthony Payiavlas to tell him that students supported the workers’ efforts to unionize. Students and workers also paid a visit to the Sarah Lawrence College Vice President for Finance, John Bernson, to give the Sarah Lawrence the same message that they gave AVI. Here’s a video of the action: