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.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the rally. We estimate that about 80 people came, including students, faculty, staff and some supporters from Cincinnati.We rallied at Shriver Center with some great speakers, including three staff members who shared their stories. Then we marched to Roudebush (the administrative building) where we planted our proposal for a living wage policy and everyone put in their yard signs “For A Living Wage”.Again, thanks to everyone who came to the rally and helped us pull off a great event with an amazing amount of energy.We’ll see you on Tuesday April 8th at noon for our kickoff at the hub to mark the countdown until our meeting with President Hodge on April 15th.
Join Students for Staff and other students around the NATION by participating in the 9th annual National Student Labor Week of Action.
WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR CAMPUS:
What: RALLY FOR A LIVING WAGE!
SFS will be releasing our proposal for a living wage policy, which will include the long-awaited living wage number! Come hear staff members, professors, and students tell their stories, and show your support for a just wage policy at Miami and for workers around the nation.
Where: Shriver Patio
When: Wednesday, April 2nd at 5pm
Who:Hosted by Students for Staff and officially endorsed by the Miami Valley Jobs with Justice Coalition.
…We did this last year, and we’re doing it again, because OUR MIAMI IS BETTER THAN THIS!
Today, we received a public letter of recognition from Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator for Ohio:
2/25/08
Dear Members of Miami University Students for Staff,
Thank you for contacting me about Students for Staff at Miami University of Ohio. While I do not feel it is appropriate to endorse the efforts of a non-governmental body like yours, I do believe strongly in the mission you shared with me in your letter.
It is unacceptable that individuals caring for our university students are struggling to stay above the poverty line. I applaud your efforts to bring undergraduate students, graduate students, university alumni, and staff together to promote broad-based access to a living wage.
Your commitment to improving working conditions and the lives of workers is admirable. We must continue to push for a living wage for all of America’s hardworking men and women.