Within the past few years, there has emerged a global movement of fast-food workers from 33 countries demanding a living wage and better working conditions. Days after a 2014 Labor Day speech in which President Barack Obama praised the “Fight for 15” movement, thousands of fast-food workers in 150 U.S. cities walked off their jobs. Nearly 500 striking workers were arrested in sit-ins, demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage and union rights. 

Legislators have also begun to respond to the concerns of low-wage workers. Due to the work of “Raise Up Massachusetts,” a grassroots coalition of 250 organizations, Massachusetts voted at the end of last year to raise the state minimum wage from $8/hour to $11/hour over the course of the next three years. 

Brandeis University is not immune to labor concerns. During the past few years, unjust labor conditions and practices have led us astray from our roots in cultivating social justice in our own community. 

Last June, Brandeis switched mailroom providers from Canon Inc. to Xerox Corporation. This change left former mailroom workers, whose combined years of service are longer than Brandeis’ existence, unemployed. Some workers were offered the option to be rehired by Xerox, but at wages far below their previous level, ignoring their long-time commitment to the Brandeis community. As reported by The Hoot, William “Bill” Bowen, well known as “The Singing Mailman,” rejected Xerox’s offer of $12.50/hour for a 90-day trial period, which is about half of his previous wage after 35 years of service. Other long-time mailroom employees such as Nancy Landry similarly felt cheated and disrespected by the University, stating, “Brandeis was a family and had family values .... I still loved working there and thought when I started there some 28 years ago that it was a place I could work ’til I retired. It felt like a home, which a lot of people felt as well, ’til things started changing quite a few years back .... It kind of blows my mind that [President] Fred Lawrence was saying you’re a family, you’re a family. But [Brandeis] is not a family anymore … you don’t care about your people, per se.”

A further indication of valuing profit over people, the switch from Aramark to Sodexo as Brandeis’ dining provider in Fall 2013, also led to deteriorating working conditions. After numerous interviews with Sodexo workers, an open letter by Brandeis Labor Coalition last Fall describes how managerial staff harassed and intimidated workers, coerced them into doing tasks not in their job description, and cut hours without notice. The letter goes on, “Even if workers address abuses with management, their grievances are not acknowledged. Sodexo is required to respond to grievances filed by workers within five days. However, there is a backlog of grievances dating back to April, which clearly communicates that Sodexo is not invested in working with or supporting their employees.” Although Sodexo employees are unionized under UNITE HERE!, the union faced resistance in addressing management’s malicious practices, which continued for months in violation of union agreements. Even if workers are represented by a union, Brandeis must step in as a steward of all members of our community in instances when outside contractors continuously mistreat workers. 

Fortunately, Brandeis is already ahead of many universities. Workers employed directly by Brandeis receive a living wage, calculated as being $15.05 for a single adult in Waltham by the Crittenton Women’s Union. This does not extend, however, to workers employed by outside contractors. Workers employed by Sodexo make $12.51 an hour for the first five years of employment before reaching the union-negotiated rate of $16.68. Similarly, terminated mailroom staff, if given the offer, were rehired at lower wages, below the living wage. To fully serve our commitment as a university to social justice, there should be no difference between University and contracted employees. Brandeis should be committed to living wages and fair labor conditions, not just under its own policies but in its dealings with contractors.

Brandeis Labor Coalition therefore is pushing for the implementation of a Brandeis Just Employment Policy for all workers, including those employed by outside contractors. This Just Employment Policy will provide an indexed living wage standard, ensure all workers have harassment-free work environments and ensure there exists effective, safe grievance procedures. The University will respect the right of workers to vote in union elections and uphold union agreements. Secure, full-time employment will be prioritized over temporary jobs. Lastly, oversight infrastructure will be created to enforce the Just Employment Policy and publish an annual report on labor conditions at Brandeis. 

Georgetown University’s Just Employment Policy, which has served as a model for our  policy, guarantees a living wage, annually indexed to keep up with the costs of good and services in the area, to both University employees and full-time contract workers on-campus. Implemented in 2005, the policy also includes measures that ensure all workers have secure and just employment. Administration at Georgetown, at first hostile to the policy, now frequently tout it as an example of its commitment to social justice, and it has been successful in the ten years since its implementation. 

It has only cost Georgetown 0.2 percent of its annual budget to provide a living wage to about 500 campus workers. Having such a policy codified also provides a means for accountability of wage and labor issues in a central location instead of numerous disjointed policies that are inconsistently enforced.

By implementing our own Just Employment Policy, Brandeis would take a major step forward in embodying the University’s  commitments to social justice and community. At the end of April, BLC will be leading the way for a student-wide referendum vote of the proposed Just Employment Policy, and we hope you join us in support. Without dining, custodial, facilities and all the other workers on-campus, the Brandeis community would not be able to function. As part of the Brandeis family, all workers deserve the right to a living wage, fair grievance procedures and safe working environment. We cannot truly call ourselves a family if we deny any member these basic rights.

—Julia Dougherty ’15, Tamar Lyssy ’14 and Andrew Nguyen ’15 are members of Brandeis Labor Coalition.