We Are Falling Behind: Cornell Workers Deserve a Fair Contract!
Our years here at Cornell are among the best years of our lives, and we will forever remember the incredible opportunities provided to us on the hill. Yet our positive Cornell experience relies on more than world-class faculty and state-of-the-art buildings. Our basic human needs throughout our student years are met by the hard-working men and women who clean our dorms, maintain our facilities, and prepare our food. These workers, overall, love their jobs and care deeply about the students at Cornell, always providing smiling faces and kind words through tough prelims and cold winters. They are the backbone of our University, and deserve an income that allows them to provide for their families just as they provide for all of us.
Cornell University is currently negotiating a new contract with the UAW Local 2300, which represents full-time dining, grounds, and custodial workers. Despite the tremendous service these workers provide to our University, budget cuts have motivated the administration to enter negotiations with the position that wages cannot rise for the coming fiscal year. Given the facts below, this wage freeze will result in even more Cornell workers earning poverty wages:
- The cost of living in the Ithaca area continues to rise.
- Cornell University already pays its "unskilled" workers less than its peer institutions, such as Syracuse University and Dartmouth, despite lower costs of living in these areas.
- Most dining workers already earn 20% less than the living wage for Tompkins County ($23,104 for a single adult).
- Some earn as little as $16,500 during the academic year and cannot find work over breaks when they are laid off.
- Many of these workers are eligible for government assistance, including Section 8 housing and food stamps.
- New York State Law does not require educational institutions to pay unemployment assistance during summer and winter breaks.
- While Columbia University provides its workers with a stipend of $125 a week during layoffs to help them get by, Cornell offers nothing.
- This leaves some already low-waged workers with no income for over a third of the year.
- Despite the recession, Cornell’s endowment is over $4 billion and the university has more income than many Fortune 500 companies.
In these tough economic times, we need to live up to high ethical standards and make people a priority. We demand that Cornell University pay every full-time worker a living wage.
Here's how you can help!
President Skorton and Vice President for Human Resources Mary Opperman need to know that this is a priority for the Cornell community.
Please give them a call and send them an e-mail to let them know you are concerned.
President Skorton's Number: (607) 255-5201 VP Opperman's Number: (607)255-3621
What to say: My name is ____ and I'm a(n) _____ of Cornell (or a member of the Ithaca community). I'm calling to express my concern that many of the workers who keep our University running are not earning enough to provide for their families. I ask that you make sure Cornell makes people a priority and pays EVERY Cornell worker a living wage.
If you get their secretary or voicemail, leave a message!
Right after you call them, send them an e-mail by clicking the link below!
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/faircontractforcornellserviceworkers/
Thanks to the Tompkins County Workers' Center for helping with this.
EVERY BIT HELPS, please tell your friends and family to call in as well!
Thanks everyone, we'll be posting updates as soon as the contract has been negotiated, so stay tuned.
More Information
You can also check out these articles and op-eds from the Sun for even more information. We acknowledge that all of these articles are in support of our workers, but no op-eds were written supporting the administration's position.
http://cornellsun.com/node/37081
http://cornellsun.com/node/37301
http://cornellsun.com/section/opinion/content/2009/04/09/working-less-living-wage
If you're on Facebook, join our group: http://www.facebook.com/people/Fil-Eden/432622#/group.php?gid=74399884241
And here's a link with some more information on a living wage and how that's calculated: http://alternatives.org/2009livingwagepressrelease.html