As we celebrate Miami’s bicentennial and reflect upon its history, we may find much to take pride in. However, in order to build a better future we must also engage the less savory aspects of that history. In the past twenty years, the voices and interests of students, faculty and staff have been consistently undermined by “institutional” priorities designed to promote the Miami image while protecting university investments, contracts and endowments. Administrative voices have defined what is best for us, but their policies and decisions often seem at odds with the needs and values of our community. As we are increasingly encouraged to articulate and realize those values as members of an “engaged” university, we wonder why no one is listening.
A Brief History of Disempowerment
1989: Miami University illegally decertifies the union representing classified staff, AFSCME Local 209, denying the staff’s right to negotiate their contract.
1994: The Ohio Supreme Court finds MU guilty of unfair labor practices and orders the university to allow the union to negotiate.
1997: A study by the Mercer consulting firm reports that Miami University’s wages for classified staff are insufficient at 18-19% below market value.
2000: A survey conducted by the Classified Personnel Advisory Committee shows that a “majority of the participants expressed opinions that indicated a low level of morale, not only among themselves, but among the classified staff in general.” Morale among staff “is perceived to be low and worsening.”
2003: AFSCME Local 209 goes on strike after contract negotiations fall through.
A report from a state-appointed fact finder recommends wage increases of 20-25% based on market comparisons and the ability of MU to pay the increases.
Miami engages in corporate-style strike breaking (as documented by former Miami professor, William Wines) and the strike ends with a 4.25% wage increase.
2006: President Garland closes the Western College Program/School of Interdisciplinary Studies, despite outcry from students, faculty, and staff regarding the lack of due process and transparency.
2009: A study released by University Senate reports that, within the last decade, administrative salaries have risen more sharply than faculty salaries as the number of administrative positions has also significantly increased.
Beyond the Bicentennial
The continuing lack of democratic decision-making at Miami is evident in the administrative response to the current budget deficit. In the coming months, 100 Miami employees will lose their jobs while the remaining staff, many of whom are already overworked and underpaid, will find themselves under further strain. Meanwhile, graduate assistantships have been cut in Art Education, Communications, Spanish, and the Institute of Environmental Sciences.
We must imagine –and demand– an alternative Miami (OUR Miami) where students, faculty and staff alongside administrators work toward a common vision, a Miami based upon shared power and respect, where decisions and policies respond to the needs of community members. We must demand a change in the wage structure of our university, in which administrators presently earn some of the highest salaries and receive raises to match while faculty and staff take on an ever increasing workload. We must demand real power in the governance of our university, rather than settling for a voice which is solicited symbolically but consistently devalued and ignored.
In the last few weeks communities across the country have mobilized through actions and press conferences to support a People’s Bailout: federal action that supports and protects the jobs, homes, and health care of working people, not the exorbitant salaries and negligent behavior of CEOs! We are not waiting around for this, we are demanding it now, as evident in the renewed spirit of the labor movement. We’ve seen the inspiring dedication of workers who occupied Chicago Windows and Doors for six days until they successfully reached a settlement including severance pay and health care. Also, in Tar Heel N.C., after years of struggle against management workers at Smithfield Packing, the largest meatpacking plant in the world, voted to join the UFCW.
However, the economic situation which has driven these actions remains bleak for many working families. At a press conference on Dec. 23rd, labor leaders and community members, including a delegate from Students for Staff, joined together in solidarity with the workers at the Dayton GM plant on the plant’s last day of operation. The closing of this facility represents the failure of our government to prioritize the needs of the working class during this economic crisis and, as a result, the Dayotn GM workers will join a growing mass of people facing this holiday season unemployed. In response, as part of the People’s Bailout, we demand demand job protection, health care, retirement security, a stop to evictions, the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and long term, sustainable change to protect workers’ rights.
When I first read Miami’s official statement on the current economic crisis, I remember predicting that those who could least afford to make sacrifices would end up bearing the brunt of the impact. Unfortunately, I have not been proven wrong. Miami employs a small number of part-time workers (not the same as student employees), the majority of whom work in residence halls. I recently learned that these part time employees have been put in a very difficult position which I would like to bring to the attention of the Miami community.
In general, these employees are at Miami because they are hoping to move into full-time positions and, in addition, several of them are supporting children. They receive no benefits from Miami and, as a result, some have no health insurance. For the past year, part-time employees have each worked approximately 30 hours per week. However, beginning in January, they will be reduced to 16 hours per week; this means that someone who was earning around $400 every two weeks will now be earning around $200 every two weeks. If Miami does decide to lay off employees within the next year, part time workers will likely lose their jobs. However, because unemployment is based on average earnings for the last 12 months, the cut in hours means that these employees will be eligible for significantly less money from unemployment than they might have been otherwise.
I understand that Miami is in a difficult position financially, but is dramatically reducing the hours of some of our lowest paid staff a solution in line with the values of our university? Is this a long-term solution to Miami’s history of wasteful spending? For perspective, approximately 300 Miami employees earn over $100,000 a year and they have not been asked to make sacrifices anywhere near what has been demanded of our staff whose wages already rest uncomfortably close to the poverty line. If Miami University’s initial responses to the financial crisis will seriously jeopardize the well being of part-time staff, we can only expect that future decisions will continue to disproportionately burden our lowest paid employees.
Tell Cintas it’s time for a change! This October, we can make it happen! More than one-and-a-half years after a Cintas worker was killed on the job, the Cincinnati based company still hasn’t done enough to make its laundries safe. Join hundreds of injured Cintas workers, union members, and community allies at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in October.
What: RALLY TO MAKE CINTAS SAFE
When: OCTOBER 14, 2008 8:30am
Where: 6800 CINTAS BLVD., MASON, OH
Please email dirrse@gmail.com if you plan to come. Transportation provided.
A report recently published by the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies uses self sufficiency standards to measure poverty in Ohio as an alternative to the problematic federal poverty line. According to these standards, a single parent with a preschooler and an infant in Butler County needs $46, 638 a year to meet the cost of living. Read more about this report in local newspapers or see the full text of the report.
To all of our student, faculty, and staff members, welcome back to Miami for Fall 2008! Our plans for this year include classroom presentations, a labor related film series, speakers, involvement in the Employee Free Choice Act campaign, and, as always, some action on campus.
Any singers, songwriters, or guitar players out there? We’d love to get the Student Labor Action Band going again!
If politics are more your thing, come help us get signatures for the Employee Free Choice Act to support the right of workers to organize.
Do you like writing? Come help out with our media and press exposure.
As you can see, there is a place for you in Students for Staff. If you are interested, come to a meeting, send us an email, or check out our table at Mega Fair from 1-5pm on Sunday Sept. 7th in Millet Hall.
The SFS alumni have heard that it’s crunch time and they are getting organized. If you are a Miami alum, we need you now! Please sign the following petition and then email us if you want to get more involved
“Until Miami University implements a living wage policy as outlined in the Students for Staff Proposal for a Living Wage, we will withhold donations to the University. Additionally, we will encourage fellow alums and potential future donors to withhold contributions to a University that seems to love and honor the poverty wages it forces on the very workers that make it successful.
We will instead contribute our money to fund efforts by Miami students and workers to organize themselves to win a living wage for everyone employed by our alma mater.”
At a recent meeting (April 15th, 2008) with President Hodge, Students for Staff requested that Pres. Hodge make a personal commitment to implement our living wage proposal. His response? “No”
So, we asked him to designate a living wage as a fiscal priority. Again, he said “No”.
President Hodge has said that the staff are the heart and soul of the university but he won’t acknowledge that a living wage should be a priority!
What did he say at this meeting? “A living wage will be a part of the discussion during negotiations next year.”
That’s right, folks. Next year is union contract negotiations and we all need to be behind the staff 100% during this time. We won’t just make a living wage part of the discussion, we will make it part of the reality. Are you ready?
We’ve released the proposal for a Living Wage at Miami. Read it here!
This Tuesday at 10am, we are sending a delegation of students, faculty, and staff to President Hodge, asking him to implement a Living Wage at Miami. Do you want him to stop Miami from paying poverty wages? Then contact him:
“Hi, my name is _______. I am calling today to inform you of my support for the Living Wage proposal developed by Students For Staff. I believe that paying poverty wages at Miami is morally indefensible, and must stop immediately. I urge you, President Hodge, to agree to implement the Living Wage proposal at the April 15th meeting with Students For Staff.”
On Monday, University Senate passed a resolution in support of a living wage for Miami’s full-time staff. While this resolution is non-binding, it does signify serious community support for a living wage policy at Miami. Specifically, University Senate urges President Hodge to implement a living wage at Miami. U. Senate is made up of representatives of faculty, students, staff, and administrators.