2/13/02

Workers: Unite to demand a living wage

By Mike Pesa
Daily Kent Stater

Mike Pesa

"My friends, it is solidarity of labor we want. We do not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each other: 'We must be together; our masters are joined together and we must do the same thing.' "

-Mary Harris "Mother" Jones

According to the top story in last Thursday's <ital>Stater<ital>, a number of skilled trade workers are upset with the contract recently signed by Kent State University and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Although the contract won the union's support by a vote of 85-13, several trade workers felt they were getting a raw deal because their wages did not increase at as high a rate as some of the lower-paid workers. Some workers are blaming the union for not fairly representing them in the negotiations.

Eddie Agema, one of the trade workers interviewed in the <ital>Stater<ital>, claims that even though he works for a living, he is forced to seek food stamps and government assistance for his family. He has every right to be outraged, but should this outrage be directed toward the other workers in the union?

Custodians and other "unskilled" workers, whose hard and thankless labor are critical to the welfare of our society, make at least $2 less per hour than the highly underpaid trade workers. If Agema is on food stamps, it is unlikely the other workers used their raise to buy a new BMW.

The problem is not that the custodians inched closer to the wage of the maintenance workers this year. The real outrage is that many KSU employees are working long and hard and still not earning enough to make ends meet. This has nothing to do with the university's current budget crisis. In fact, last year, long before Gov. Bob Taft announced the budget cuts, wages were even lower.

Rather than fighting with each other over who deserves more, KSU workers should, with one voice, demand a LIVING WAGE. A living wage is a wage that adequately meets the needs of workers and their families. Many cities, including Cleveland, have enacted ordinances requiring the payment of living wages for all jobs funded with public money. More recently, the concept has begun to be applied to universities. The idea of a campus living wage gained popularity when the Harvard Living Wage Campaign staged a 21-day sit-in on behalf of workers at Harvard College, motivating celebrities like Senator Ted Kennedy and actor Ben Affleck to speak out in support of living wages. According to a group called ACORN, there are now living wage campaigns at 34 universities across the country. The Kent Living Wage Coalition, a group which I belong to, is currently campaigning for a city ordinance, but will soon turn its attention to Kent State.

The strength of union is solidarity, and I urge all KSU workers to put aside their differences and work together to demand their rights. It's time for a living wage!

<ital>Mike Pesa is a sophomore history major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater.<ital>

E-mail: mpesa@kent.edu

Copyright 2002 The Daily Kent Stater