University students and administrators are presently coping with a host of challenges, from studying for midterms to poring over thousands of admissions applications. Yet these issues are dwarfed by those facing the employees who serve lunch at the University's dining halls, clean its classrooms and residential facilities and maintain the upkeep of its Grounds.
Many of these individuals are trying to make ends meet while being paid only $9 or $10 per hour, wages that are especially low considering the rising costs of necessities such as food, gasoline and health care. Thus, it is encouraging to see students pushing for a "living wage" to be paid to all University employees. Although the primary policy goal of this campaign will be difficult to achieve, improving the livelihoods of underpaid workers is essential to preserving the integrity of the University community.
Those pushing for a living wage are putting their conviction on display by holding a march outside of today's Board of Visitors meeting. "Our intention is to demonstrate to the Board that there are many students, faculty, staff and residents of Charlottesville who are concerned about this issue," said fourth-year College student Erin Franey, one of the event's organizers. "We want to show them that we can have such broad support and still demonstrate respectfully." This comment suggested that today's rally will not be a repeat of what happened in 2006, when 17 students involved in the campaign were arrested after occupying Madison Hall for four days while demanding a living wage for employees.
This is welcome news because it means that living wage supporters have a mature understanding of the constraints facing the University at the present time. Although the group's fundamental objective, a minimum wage of $11.44 per hour, initially seems reasonable, it becomes more complicated when taking into account the fact that the University has imposed a pay freeze upon all faculty and staff since 2007. The financial crunch that brought about this situation is not likely to improve either, with state funding for higher education continuing to decline and Gov. Bob McDonnell having proposed what amounts to a 5 percent pay cut to all state employees to help fund the Virginia Retirement System. University President Teresa A. Sullivan, while expressing a willingness to listen to living wage activists, has sounded appropriately skeptical about whether the University currently has the money to pay out wage increases to its staff. She noted that while some people have suggested dipping into the endowment for this purpose, more than 90 percent of that money is unavailable because it has been earmarked for specific projects by donors.
Franey acknowledged the University-wide pay freeze. "I think the campaign recognizes that at the present moment it is very difficult to raise wages," she said. What the movement is stressing, however, is that there are other ways to lend a hand to underpaid workers without raising wages. In particular, improved health and child care benefits, career training opportunities and wage equity for contract workers are policy initiatives for which the campaign has indicated it will advocate in the coming months.
Another crucial step that the University administration can take and that does not involve any financial obligations is to simply increase its public recognition of the living wage campaign. "We've heard often behind closed doors from administrators that they support the living wage, but there seems to be a hesitancy to say that out loud," Franey said. "I think that is what causes a lot of concern among students and faculty." By expressing its solidarity with the campaign's values, the administration can shift the grounds of the discussion and establish the living wage as a priority for donors and legislators as they consider how to support the University in the future.
For their part, students can take action through demonstrations such as today's march and also simply by taking the time to express their gratitude to workers who often go unnoticed in the hubbub of everyday University life. Reaching out to these individuals to show appreciation for their work can be coupled with an effort by students to educate themselves about the issue of wage inequality to ensure that the University community is one that respects even its humblest members.
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