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Referendum aids LTE employees

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by Mark Thomas

Monday, October 17, 2005

Working people on campus would like to thank students for passing the Living Wage Referendum during the ASM elections held Oct. 11-13. Those who worked on and voted for the referendum have struck a blow for human dignity.

I work in the kitchen at the Memorial Union. I make a decent wage — $13.78 per hour, after 25 years on the job — with health insurance, paid vacation, a pension, and a union to protect me. I work side by side with Limited Term Employees — people who make $7.25 an hour, receive no benefits, and whose rights are left to my bosses' tender mercies. The union-represented people in the kitchen are mostly white, and the LTEs are mostly people of color. I've learned a lot about poverty from my sisters and brothers who struggle to survive on the wages they're paid at the university.

The referendum adopted last week would require campus workplaces funded by segregated fees to pay $10.23 an hour to LTEs. While this is "110 percent of the federal poverty wage for a family of four," in truth it is hardly enough to support one person with no dependents. Any LTE trying to raise a child on this income has to have more than one job, and they are one paycheck away from being homeless. For people working as LTEs, the university IS a sweatshop.

It is disingenuous for Memorial Union administrators to say that they are concerned with holding down students' segregated fees. Last April, students rejected a referendum put forth by the Memorial Union administration to pay for the "Wisconsin Union Master plan" through segregated fees. The referendum — which the administration tried to sneak through with no publicity — would have raised fees $132 per year over 15 years. By then, it would have cost students over $44 million. Progressive students blocked the referendum, thereby saving future students millions of dollars.

If you need more proof, be aware that the Memorial Union administration is cranking up a campaign to pass a similar referendum in the spring. They recently signed a contract with a public relations firm for $198,000 to shepherd a referendum to fund the Master Plan through the spring ASM elections. Stealth didn't work last April, so they will be trying spin next spring.

I'd like to thank SLAC for putting this referendum and the ballot, the Teaching Assistants Association, the College Democrats, and the International Socialist Organization for their backing, and the students who voted for the referendum for their support.

We will soon know if the administration will accept these results, or if they will try to obstruct our efforts with legal challenges. This may be the beginning of a campaign to force administrators to do the right thing by the LTEs and to respect students' rights to shared governance.

Mark Thomas is a member of the AFSCME local 171 Steward.

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Anonymous (October 17, 2005 @ 1:49am):

YEAH! I'm so proud that this referendum passed, and we can finally end the abuse of LTEs by the Union!

Anonymous (October 17, 2005 @ 2:14am):

the administration will just ignore you

Anonymous (October 17, 2005 @ 5:51am):

You'll also soon find out if you still have a job. The food at the Memorial Union is already overpriced as it is, and the quality is certainly nothing to write home about. The increase in the cost of wages will almost certainly require in increase in the cost of food, something that I doubt many union patrons will go for in light of the low food quality and service, and the presence of many alternatives nearby on State Street.

There's no way that the Memorial Union can remain solvent with these kinds of policies. The Union ought to consider doing what most other unions on college campuses do- contract out the food service to chains who know how to properly manage a business. The price, food quality, and service can only improve from what it's at now.

Anonymous (October 17, 2005 @ 8:06am):

Should someone making 10 dollars an hour on their own even have a kid? How is that being responsible, not to mention you are working somewhere most people would consider temp work. If you don't have an education, get in a trade and do something for yourself instead of crying about not being able to make it while doing a job that makes the rest of us wonder.

Anonymous (October 17, 2005 @ 8:09am):

I find it interesting that you claim the Wisconsin Union tried to sneak through a referendum with no publicity, when SLAC did exactly that. Nobody in ASM knew about this referendum until it was on the ballot, including SSFC, who was most affected by it, while the Union referendum was passed by both the SSFC and ASM Student Council. How do you explain that? And the claims that this referedum passing won't affect students is also bogus. This will cost the Union alone upwards of 650,000 dollars. Therefore it will affect students in one of three ways: Increase food prices (where the Union gets most of its revenue), Increase seg fees, or decrese funding dollars for the free programming put on by WUD.