STUDENTS at the University are often quick to advocate and protest for those causes which affect our lives directly: Honor code reform and rape and assault victims' rights are two causes which have drawn a considerable amount of attention recently, and have also prompted students to take direct action to change their circumstances. Still, students take up other causes that have little to do with our personal situations: for example, Students for a Free Tibet.
But there are also causes which inhabit an intermediate space -- they may not affect students themselves, but instead affect other members of the community which we are a part of. The staff at the University of Virginia -- hospital workers, dining hall employees and janitorial personnel, among others -- comprise such a group, and the student Living Wage Campaign has appropriately rallied in order to protect staff members' rights. For as students, unlike employees, we have little to lose if we speak up.
It is important that students recognize the harsh realities faced by members of our own community: These people happen to be those who serve us each day, whether cooking food at the dining halls or performing maintenance in the dormitories. The fact that these conditions are imposed by our own institution, however, demands that we not ignore the problem which our University has helped to create. The Living Wage Campaign is a powerful movement that is worthwhile for all members of the University community to endorse.
Many question why students are lobbying so intensely for a living wage when the majority of University employees have not mobilized themselves. But student organizing for this cause may ultimately prove to be more powerful than workers' organization itself. It is important to recognize that this is not ideal. In a best-case scenario, University staff would have a powerful voice which University administrators would take into consideration. In reality, however, employees at the University are often ignored. For example, Dena Bowers, a 17-year veteran at the University's Department of Human Resources, was recently terminated for an incident that began by her sending an e-mail that contained an NAACP report critical of labor conditions at the hospital from her University e-mail account.
The Staff Union at the University of Virginia has worked closely with the Living Wage Campaign to defend University employees. SUUVA is the primary organization through which University staff can organize themselves. But student campaigns promise to be more effective, as workers are put in a precarious position if they speak up for themselves. Unionizing and speaking out against low wages or inadequate benefits are dangerous prospects for those who cannot risk losing work, as they would not qualify for unemployment benefits in most cases. These are everyday people with families to support, health concerns and other vital needs which they should not be forced to jeopardize.
It is precisely for this reason that students' voices are so important -- we are in a position to advocate for those workers whom the University administration does injustice, because our own livelihoods and reputations are not at stake. Essentially, we have nothing to lose in advocating for workers' justice, but so much can be gained from it.
What the campaign needs most now is vocal and widespread student support, which can exert enough pressure on University officials that they will be forced to remedy the injustice which they have allowed to perpetuate for too long. In order to gather such support, the Living Wage Campaign plans to bring a resolution before student organizations, community groups and faculty members next semester. According to fourth-year Abby Bellows, who co-drafted the resolution, its purpose is "to provide a succinct articulation of why a living wage for all employees serves the values of the Charlottesville community and benefits it as a whole." By endorsing the resolution, these groups will do more than demonstrate solidarity with workers at the University -- Bellows believes that it will function to show the administration "how strongly so many of us feel about paying employees decent, dignified wages."
Other plans discussed at the most recent meeting include the publishing of a report, available in early 2006, which will discuss the details of implementing a living wage at the University. The campaign's promise and chances at success are greater than ever -- a dedicated base of student support already exists, indicated by the number of hours which members have already devoted to the cause, both this semester and in previous years. And it is clear that at least some University administrators are listening to students' concerns, as well they should. This is our University, and we should be able to effect institutional changes ourselves.
Todd Rosenbaum's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at trosenbaum@cavalierdaily.com.
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