Students for Staff had a great fall semester and we are anticipating an even better spring semester. Some of our achievements for Fall ’07:

• Throughout the semester, SFS students gave interactive presentations to many classes to raise awareness about the living wage issue. If you want a presentation in your class please contact us!
• Staff Day (see previous post)
• SFS launches the Student Labor Action Band and students walk around campus singing living wage songs and strumming guitars.
• The Living Wage Committee put in many hours researching wage and poverty data, including Miami University’s history of labor relations, comparisons with other universities, the cost of living in Oxford, and comparison between inflation and wage increases.
• Though the Associated Student Government fails to pass a bill in support of a living wage, The Graduate Student Association passes the following bill urging President Hodge to implement a living wage:

Living Wage Bill
11-07-2007

We the Graduate Student Association:

1) Acknowledge that all employees, including the approximately 1,600 full-time classified staff, are indispensable parts of the Miami University communities.

2) Believe that the fiscal/financial policies of the University cannot be carried out to the disadvantage of our university communities’ most vulnerable.

3) Acknowledge that there is an unresolved problem with the ability of staff’s wages to cover basic necessities for themselves and their families.

4) Urge President Hodge and the Board of Trustees to implement a living wage policy.

5) Encourage students, staff, faculty and administration to work in collaboration and open dialog with each other to find an equitable wage scale for all university employees.