On Tuesday, Students for Staff spoke with a full-time staff member at Miami who lives alone and provides for herself by working a second job. Recently, she woke up in the hospital—her blood sugar had plummeted overnight and the sudden drop almost killed her. Now she’s afraid to go to sleep. She broke her tailbone last year when a sudden drop in blood sugar caused her to fall, and she crashed her car when her blood sugar got so low that she nearly passed out.
An automatic insulin pump would be enough to prevent these incidents from ever happening again. She and her doctors are trying to get the pump covered through Miami’s insurance, but she’s been told it will likely be denied. The “market-competitive wages” from the “employer of choice” aren’t enough that she can afford the device herself. Even with the addition of a second job, she is still forced to choose between her proper medication and other basic necessities. These are the realities at the heart of our demand for a living wage.
Nevertheless, the university’s response to our concerns has been consistently clear: “not now, not here.” Most recently, at ASG’s Annual State of the Student Body Address, President Hodge said he was disappointed in us for bringing up “our” issue at yet another public forum. This comment followed a speech in which President Hodge commended students for embracing the issues that confront Oxford as a community. In response, we would like to inform President Hodge that poverty is a community issue, and, as community leaders, President Hodge and the administration have the responsibility to pay Miami’s hard-working staff what they deserve, not as little as Miami can get away with. Furthermore, the entire student body was invited to this event and encouraged to ask questions. It reflects poorly on our president’s commitment to community if one of the few student organizations that cared enough to come to the event was denigrated and condemned for voicing community concerns. We would like to inform President Hodge that community must emerge from collaboration and dialog; it doesn’t appear overnight with the construction of an $80 million bicentennial student center.
It is practically impossible to muster the excitement and enthusiasm President Hodge invoked in his discussion of plans for the bicentennial student center when you remember the full-time Miami staff who must live in extreme frugality because Miami refuses to pay them a fair wage.
If students’ concerns for local poverty and economic justice are consistently unwelcome at student forums and events, when and where will community finally be realized at Miami?
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 MiamiUniversity’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 MiamiUniversity 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.
To celebrate autumn, and all that it entails (like cold weather, unpredictable Ohio rains, and beautiful red leaves), we’ve got some surprises for you!
First, the campaign is really gaining steam as we network with organizations and people from all over the country. We’re building connections with supporters of the living wage movement at large, and we’ve already got some famous names. Do you want to publicly support the Students For Staff campaign to get a living wage for Miami workers? Go join Noam Chomsky and the Center For American Progress in endorsing our campaign!
Second, a few of our veteran members collaborated recently, and put together a pretty comprehenseive history of Students For Staff. It’s a fascinating story, and we hope you’ll read it all.
Third, our website just got a big overhaul. Not only does it look prettier (well, that’s a matter of opinion), but the changes take a lot of burden off of our webmaster! (and that’s a fact). If it gives you any trouble, please contact us!
Finally, this semester is going by fast, and we’re not wasting any time. A number of interesting projects are in progress, and we want you to be informed! To help keep track of the news updates on this website, we’ve set up an RSS Feed for you. Just click on that big orange button, or here, to sign up. If you want to know more about RSS feeds, check out Wikipedia’s article.
Thanks for reading! Let’s close with a chant:
What do we want? A living wage!
When do we want it? Now!
-they cook your food
-they clean your bathrooms
-they help you with registration
They ARE Miami.
Miami wouldn’t be Miami without its staff.
And yet, about a third of them are potentially making low-income wages for full time work (Human Resources data, May 2007). That is, the wages they earn from working at Miami are not enough to afford even a basic style of living.
Is it fair for them to do so much for us and get so little in return?
SUPPORT MIAMI’S WORKERS.
SUPPORT A LIVING WAGE.
Come to a reception in honor of the Miami Staff!
The free dinner will take place on Wednesday, September 26th from 5 - 7 pm at the Shriver patio, by the Fine Arts Pavilion. In case of rain, we will relocate to Art 100.
If you missed us at MegaFair, take a look at our informational video, and consider signing up for our email newsletter for more information on meeting times, events, and community-building activities!
On June 16th, 2007, Students For Staff members distributed 800 informational fliers to returning Miami alumni. The alums visited the Oxford campus to participate in Alumni Weekend, and we made sure not to miss out on the festivities. The fliers explained our ongoing campaign for a living wage, and we asked alumni to tell President Hodge that Miami’s staff deserve a living wage.
Alumni were also asked to add their names to our growing list of living wage supporters. The majority of alumni responded positively, and seemed genuinely interested in the issue. All told, we’re really glad to get these people involved in the SFS campaign — after all, Miami is their alma mater!
Great job to everybody who helped out with making this event a success. In the words of one particularly enthusiastic alum, “Rock On!!”