GSU Stands in Solidarity with Campus Workers

Graduate Students United stands in solidarity with the housekeeping staff in this assault on labor rights on campus.

All those who work (on campus) have the right to be represented by a union. We will not tolerate the administration’s eradication of basic labor rights under the guise of opaque and rushed processes of “consolidation.” This is not an exceptional decision by the administration. This is part of a larger strategy to consolidate-away campus union employees, squeeze workers, and reward the already well-off.

As graduate students we are well aware of how convenient it is for the the administration to be blind to the work that we (and many others) do on campus.

And to the fact that many of us have or start families during our many years here. This is why we are calling on the administration to make its new child care center available and financially accessible to–not just graduate students–but all campus employees.

This is also why I am here to say that we resist corporate logics of optimization. This University is a community which works best when all of us work together and when our work is not just symbolically respected (by actions such as Employee Appreciation Week) but materially recognized. Outsourcing employment to subcontractors may assure a better bottom line but it doesn’t guarantee the kind of dedicated service that the housekeeping staff provides: some of them for over a decade!

The way we fight back is through collective action; it’s what secured the doubling of TA pay, it’s what secures good contracts for housekeepers, clerical workers, nurses, dining hall workers, and everyone else who works for a wage at the university.

We stand in solidarity and demand the continued guaranteed employment of all housekeeping staff. And this, under a collectively negotiated contract!

Graduate Students United