The Student Labor Action Movement (S.L.A.M) is a new group on campus striving for fair andlivable wages for St. Michael's workers.
When the Peace and Justice Center campaigns for fair wages, they look at $12.02 per hour. This is the amount estimated by the Joint Fiscal Office of Vermont for a single person working with no children, however this does not include the cost of childcare. This is lower than the wage for a single parent with a child which is $18.55 per hour, according to the Web site.
S.L.A.M. comes to campus
Derek Souza, a member of the group, says S.L.A.M. is speaking for the many St. Michael’s workers who need a louder voice.
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Staff members work at Alliot Student Center in the Green Mountain Dining Hall. (Photo by Abby Robitaille) |
“We’re just really trying to look out for the welfare of our laborers on campus,” Souza says.
The group has only been around for one month. Because the semester is almost over, they are starting to plan campaigns for livable wages next year, he says.
“We’re not going to try and get club status this semester,” Souza says. “That will be one of the first things we do next year.”
For now the group is working to improve only the wages of St. Michael’s workers and is setting a lot of small goals, Souza says.
“Right now we’re only working to improve the wages of St. Michael’s workers, but we have been talking with the Peace and Justice center Downtown, and they are educating us on the importance of livable wage,” Souza says. “We’ve also been working with S.L.A.P (Student Labor Action Project), the University of Vermont chapter.”
According to the University of Vermont’s Web site, S.L.A.P. is a group of students that have been working together since 2005 to improve workers rights at UVM.
Getting involved with the cause
Senior S.L.A.M. member, Ashley Bruscoe, hopes to improve the rights of St. Michael’s workers in the future.
“Some of the staff members we've talked with are struggling to support themselves or their family; some cannot even afford to heat their homes in the winter,” Bruscoe says.
Even though St. Michael’s did raise the salary of staff by $1 last year, S.L.A.M. is not satisfied and hopes to make a real difference in the lives of St. Michael’s workers, Souza says.
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St. Michael's shuttle stops at the garage for weekly repair by staff members. (Photo by Abby Robitaille) |
“I just think these workers should be making enough to live comfortably, but then again, it’s really difficult because I can’t speak for them,” Souza says.
Bruscoe agrees with Souza and hopes that St. Michael’s students will want get involved with the cause.
“Students can give a voice to the workers and should,” Bruscoe says. “We have nothing to lose.”
William Grover, professor of political science at St. Michael’s, says it’s exciting to see that students are becoming interested in significant issues like livable wages.
“It’s really important to have students excited about economic issues specifically that have to do with social justice,” Grover says. “It’s also just exciting to see this interest emerge; students at other times focus on other issues, but not so much the economic and class issues.”
So far S.L.A.M. has had a few meetings, but Souza hopes more people will get involved before the semester ends, he says.
“This year, our biggest goal is just to have a good core of kids that really want to be a part of the cause,” Souza says. “We also have a petition going on right now, and we want to get 300 to 500 names.”
Grover believes that just getting students informed about livable wages will be one of its biggest tasks this semester.
“Right now, the students want to gather information to get a real sense of what the wages are for unmarried employees, and for contracted and non-contracted St. Michael’s workers,” Grover says.
Sticking to the mission
According to the Peace and Justice Center Web site, members of the center have organized a group called the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, that looks to improve wages for laborers across Vermont.
"The college has a social justice mission which is taught in the Edmundite tradition and that has to do with fairness." |
-Professor William Grover, political science |
The mission statement on their Web site states: “We are building a statewide movement of working people and their allies who are fighting to win livable wages. We believe that our hard-earned tax dollars should be invested in our communities to promote livable wage job creation rather than corporate subsidies which threaten the economy and culture of our state.”
Grover says the mission of the college is very important and should be reflected in its actions.
“The college has a social justice mission which is taught in the Edmundite tradition and that has to do with fairness,” Grover says. “We may find out that St. Michael’s does a really good job in terms of the pay benefits for contracted and non-contracted workers, but then again we may find out that the college doesn’t do too good of a job, but we definitely need to get more information. This is simply an issue of right and wrong.”