As you may have noticed, Students for Staff has undergone some changes recently and we are claiming a new name: Fair Labor Action Coalition (FLAC). This change reflects the diversity of labor issues we are now addressing from a local to a national scale, our desire to emphasize coalition building, and our renewed commitment to meet the challenges posed by the economic crisis.

Specifically, we will continue to work with Miami staff to place pressure on the administration to negotiate a fair contract with decent wages and benefits. However, we will also work in coalition with the bus drivers who are employed by the notoriously anti-labor company First Student and are currently negotiating their first union contract. In addition, grad student workers and professors are finding their labor rights threatened by the way Miami has handled budget cuts. Bringing the voices of these workers into our actions will strengthen our movement as a whole. Finally, we recognize that many of the labor issues in Oxford are connected with regional and national policies and economic structures which must be addressed.

The economic crisis and the corporate scramble to protect profits has had devastating effects on workers, their families and their communities.  Furthermore, many people who experience multiple class, gender, race, sexuality, age, and ability based oppressions see “equal opportunity” slipping out of their fingers. When labor rights are not enforced and real wages fall, these workers are often at the highest risk. Even those who felt secure have found their power to be limited as administrators, governments officials, and corporate executives “restructure” jobs and lives with barely a nod to the voices of their employees.

We believe there are alternatives to the oppressive decisions made by our employers and our governments, that there are ALWAYS alternatives. By working together, we will have the resources and wisdom to find these alternatives and the willpower to make them our realities.