Rewind & Replay: Watch It Again March 27, 2008

If you’ve seen it, watch it again and consider posting a comment on the YouTube page: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pctMvVHTNAo

If you haven’t seen it, take 5 minutes to be moved, inspired and informed about the Living Wage Campaign!

Either way, PASS IT ON to folks you know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pctMvVHTNAo

And let folks know they can visit our blog to stay up to date: http://asclivingwagecampaign.wordpress.com/

If you feel moved to write something of your own in support of a living wage at Agnes Scott, send it to us (ascalumsforalivingwage@gmail.com) and we’ll post it to this blog!

Report Back: Alum Speaks at ASC Faculty Meeting March 27, 2008

Hey everyone! I went to the faculty meeting and after Dr. Guthrie gave his presentation I spoke for a few minutes and this is what I had written (I think I may have added a few things here and there):

I have been asked to speak about why as alumnae we have been involved in the Living Wage Campaign at Agnes Scott and frankly I have a hard time understanding why we would not. Really I have difficulty understanding how ANY member of the Agnes Scott Community can remain uninvolved. We alums are all busy with work and some with law school, med school, other graduate studies—-some have started families and have babies. Alums living all around the world are involved in this campaign.

I believe that it is the strong sense of HONOR and virtue instilled upon us as students that drives us in many things we do and caring about the community that helped support us during our time here remains part of that. We find it deplorable that your co-workers —-that is what they are, your co-workers—- must struggle to put food on their tables in spite of having worked and worked hard here at Agnes Scott for 10, 20 and even 40 years.

The school is growing—- with more students and buildings—- we find it unacceptable to know for example that one woman cleans the library, the first floors of Main and Rebekah as well as the Public Safety building, on days when her work buddy is out her work increases. Additionally the work she as a custodian does is classified as unskilled labor; while SHE strips the floors and maintains them MEN who do the walls are classified as skilled workers.

You can read more about this and other concerns of the SEXISM/ RACISM and severe CLASSISM experienced by your co-workers on our blog. Taking second and sometimes third jobs, relying on government programs is not what your co-workers should be forced to do to feed and house themselves and their families. To know that one woman has to rely on her lunch in Evans or at Mollies as her main meal so that she can feed her children a healthy dinner at night while she makes do by heating up pork rinds with ketchup or hot sauce for her dinner—- that’s not right and it violates the honor code to say the least.

In this political season we hear candidates talking about what they will do to help fight poverty in America. Well this is poverty here—- not just in GA and not just in Atlanta or Decatur but poverty at Agnes Scott—- poverty as the RESULT of low wages paid to those responsible for the beauty which makes this campus known. We as alums can no longer contribute to our alma mater in good faith knowing that our college—- a not for profit institution is in some ways no better than corporate monsters like Wal-Mart.

I asked for questions after speaking and informed everyone that the contact emails and blog site were on poster at a back table. I was asked no questions and Helen Cox who is a student offered some information and invited participation. President Kiss then came to the podium and said that Agnes Scott paid higher wages than most of the colleges in the area except Columbia Sem. and that ASC is on about the same level as they are and that ASC was not such a monster as Wal-Mart. She stated that the college had figures that vary slightly from what we have and that this will be a discussion we must continue.

So one thing I think might be interesting is figuring out how much employees of Wal-Mart make.

Also, this evening I got a call from a student asking for a donation to the school. She said that she had heard of the LWC and had friends involved so I encouraged her to get involved as well. I informed her that I could not give to ASC so long as the goals of the LWC continued to go unmet and that I planned to encourage all alumnae to abstain from giving. She said that she could understand but that the students were most important and could make benefit from the money. I asked her to please make a note of my concerns and of our Alumnae group working with students, faculty and staff.

I was polite mind you—- I know this girl is trying to make a little extra cash but I made my point, encouraged her to get involved and also asked about her classes etc. so maybe she’d be a little inclined to pass on the message and all. She said she would still go ahead and send me a package so that in case things changed I could give. Another prepaid envelope!

Leigh

Carmen’s Letter of Support March 27, 2008

Dear President Kiss and Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees,

 

As a proud Agnes Scott Alumna I was appalled, while I was in college and to this day, at the treatment of some of the members of the staff. How can members of the staff positively contribute to our every day lives, as our second family, when they are themselves being treated as second class citizens?

 

Many days during my 4 years at Agnes Scott, my only family consisted of members of the staff and contracted employees. These were the individuals who were there every single day for us, and treated us as part of their families. There was not a day when I could cry, and vent, and laugh to one of the members of the Board of Trustees, per say. When I was in need of encouragement, and a caring individual, these are the individuals to whom I credit my amazing college experience. Anyone can throw money into a building and create a place called “Agnes Scott”, but it is the people who dedicate of themselves, who are there for us on a daily basis, and console our struggles, who make our experience in those four walls a true experience of learning.

I am writing to let you know that I support a living wage at Agnes Scott College.  I support and commend the Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign’s efforts to change economic insufficiencies and institutional injustice at Agnes Scott College.

Since 1994, the Agnes Scott College (ASC) Living Wage Campaign (LWC) has been pushing for just wages, a democratized workplace, and institutionalized respect.  ASC has the financial ability to become a collegiate leader in economic justice, through fairly and justly compensating its staff; to truly live honorably as an institution, it must be willing to do so. The staff, students, faculty and alumnae involved in the LWC propose concrete solutions to eradicate current economic exploitation and injustice at ASC.

I stand in solidarity with the ASC LWC and support their complete list of requests made in a letter to the Board of Trustees (10/26/07).  In particular, I support:

1. A just starting/base wage of $14.40, the current living wage for Decatur, GA as of fall 2007 (according to research done by the ASC LWC–this figure should be adjusted for cost of living every few years according to the economy), plus paid healthcare for all ASC staff and all contracted staff.  This includes, but is not limited to, custodial, food services, clerical/faculty services, public safety, and the contracted ValleyCrest landscaping employees.
2. That ASC ensures that Aramark staff has the same pay and benefits as ASC staff.
3. Inclusion of all Staff in all historically student and faculty-centered traditions and events that are integral to ASC’s fundamental purpose and overall history, creating a democratic structure that honors the wisdom and experience of all its members.
   1. End the blatantly crude isolation and “invisibility” of the Staff: for example, not seating uniformed Staff in “designated areas” which creates a culture in which certain members of the community are treated as second class citizens.
   2. Encourage and create spaces for Staff involvement in family and student on-campus events, such as Orientation and Alumnae Weekend.
   3. Begin new traditions of a combined holiday party, where all employees of all pay-grades and rankings celebrate together with faculty and administrators.
4. The provision for all members of the ASC community to have opportunities for personal enrichment. (i.e. Opening up eligibility to take part in degree courses to all interested part-time and full-time employees; ensuring Staff members full notification of all campus events and educational/employment relevant concerns.)

The current “Resolution on Living Wage Policy” put forth by the Board of Trustees (10/26/07) is inadequate, insulting and NOT a living wage.  The LWC demands respect for all people in the ASC community, the necessary redistribution of wealth and new priorities for the campus.

I ask you to join the LWC and support economic justice and equal rights for all members of the ASC community. Please institute a true living wage at ASC today!

Sincerely,

 

Carmen L. Bolívar

ASC LWC Board Resolution PowerPoint Breakdown March 27, 2008

ASC LWC Board Resolution PowerPoint

If I Made a Living Wage… March 27, 2008

This from the fliers for the rally the ASC LWC had in Feb…
If I made a living wage, my bills would be paid on time.

If I made a living wage, I could afford to send my kids on field trips.

If I made a living wage, I would be able to plan a vacation.

If I made a living wage, I wouldn’t have to choose between medicine and gasoline.

If I made a living wage, I could buy Christmas presents for my kids.

If I made a living wage, I could buy a pair of shoes every time they get worn out.

The Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign Rally will be on Friday, February 1 from 10-11 AM in front of the Alston student center on ASC’s campus. The address is 141 E. College Ave. Decatur and is right down the street from the Decatur Marta station.

Please contact Helen Cox at hcox@agnesscott.edu or 404-432-5540 for more information.

Letter of Support (also attached for printing–click below) December 13, 2007

LWC Letter of Support

Letter of Support InformationASC

December 8, 2007

Dear President Kiss and Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees,

I am writing to let you know that I support a living wage at Agnes Scott College. I support and commend the Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign’s efforts to change economic insufficiencies and institutional injustice at Agnes Scott College.

Since 1994, the Agnes Scott College (ASC) Living Wage Campaign (LWC) has been pushing for just wages, a democratized workplace, and institutionalized respect. ASC has the financial ability to become a collegiate leader in economic justice, through fairly and justly compensating its staff; to truly live honorably as an institution, it must be willing to do so. The staff, students, faculty and alumnae involved in the LWC propose concrete solutions to eradicate current economic exploitation and injustice at ASC.

I stand in solidarity with the ASC LWC and support their complete list of requests made in a letter to the Board of Trustees (10/26/07). In particular, I support:

1. A just starting/base wage of $14.40, the current living wage for Decatur, GA as of fall 2007 (according to research done by the ASC LWC–this figure should be adjusted for cost of living every few years according to the economy), plus paid healthcare for all ASC staff and all contracted staff. This includes, but is not limited to, custodial, food services, clerical/faculty services, public safety, and the contracted ValleyCrest landscaping employees.
2. That ASC ensures that Aramark staff has the same pay and benefits as ASC staff.
3. Inclusion of all Staff in all historically student and faculty-centered traditions and events that are integral to ASC’s fundamental purpose and overall history, creating a democratic structure that honors the wisdom and experience of all its members.
   1. End the blatantly crude isolation and “invisibility” of the Staff: for example, not seating uniformed Staff in “designated areas” which creates a culture in which certain members of the community are treated as second class citizens.
   2. Encourage and create spaces for Staff involvement in family and student on-campus events, such as Orientation and Alumnae Weekend.
   3. Begin new traditions of a combined holiday party, where all employees of all pay-grades and rankings celebrate together with faculty and administrators.
4. The provision for all members of the ASC community to have opportunities for personal enrichment. (i.e. Opening up eligibility to take part in degree courses to all interested part-time and full-time employees; ensuring Staff members full notification of all campus events and educational/employment relevant concerns.)

The current “Resolution on Living Wage Policy” put forth by the Board of Trustees (10/26/07) is inadequate, insulting and NOT a living wage. The LWC demands respect for all people in the ASC community, the necessary redistribution of wealth and new priorities for the campus.

I ask you to join the LWC and support economic justice and equal rights for all members of the ASC community. Please institute a true living wage at ASC today!

Sincerely,

Letter of Support Information December 13, 2007

ASC LWC Letter of Support

*Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign*
 
Thank you for supporting the Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign!   We have the opportunity to make history at ASC–together we can secure a living wage on our campus.   We hope ASC will receive letters/emails from around the country, so tell your neighbors, family, and friends! Thank you in advance for your time. Please pass this letter on to anyone who supports a living wage!  
 
Please sign the attached Letter of Support and include your title, graduation year (for students and alumnae) and current geographical location underneath your name.  
 
You may send the letter directly to any/all of the included contacts via snail mail or email (or both!).  
Elizabeth Kiss, Office of the President, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, GA  30030 -  president@agnesscott.edu
Harriet M King, Board of Trustees Chair, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, GA  30030 - provhmk@emory.edu, Class of 1964
J. William Goodhew III, Board of Trustees Vice Chair, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, GA  30030 
Lee Ann Grimes Hudson, Board of Trustees Secretary, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, GA   30030 - Class of 1976
 
 For Alumnae:   
 
Optional:  write at the top of letters:
“I will not give donations until the college institutes a living wage.
I support the Living Wage Campaign at Agnes Scott!”
 
*You may also put a copy of the Letter of Support in ASC donation request envelopes and mail it back to ASC free of charge!   The Living Wage Campaign will let us know when we can donate again.  Organize your class or contact us to help organize other alum.   Let’s use our power as alums to make a difference at our alma mater!   
 
 

For more information about the ASC Living Wage Campaign, please contact:
Helen Cox: hcox@agnesscott.edu,
Jillian Wells: jawells@agnesscott.edu,
ASC Alums: ascalumsforalivingwage@gmail.com .
 
The ASC LWC video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pctMvVHTNAo
Our MySpace page (be our friend!): http://www.myspace.com/ascalumsforalivingwage  
Join our general listserv for updates: ASCLivingWage-Announce@googlegroups.com

A Letter One 2003 Alum Enclosed with Her Letter of Support to the President and Board of Trustees December 13, 2007

I am writing in support of a TRUE living wage for all ASC staff.  When I read the Board’s Resolution on Living Wage Policy, I was disturbed by the timeline for implementation of changes.  Moreover, I was offended by the length of service awards, beginning with $200 for 5 years of employment.  This is NOT a living wage!

ASC has the opportunity to join other collegiate leaders who have already instituted a living wage.  Don’t waste this chance!

I cannot in good faith begin donating to ASC until I know that ASC has stopped paying poverty wages to its staff.

Class of 2003

The ASC Living Wage Campaign VIDEO! December 13, 2007

 email: ascalumsforalivingwage@gmail.com for more information or call 404-966-2143.

Listserv for Updates and Actions! December 13, 2007

Announcement List for Everyone!

We have created a general ASC Living Wage Campaign list (ASCLivingWage-Announce@googlegroups.com) for those of you who would like to stay updated on the campaign.  We will post updates, volunteer needs and actions people can take to the list–it will NOT be a discussion list. 

email: ascalumsforalivingwage@gmail.com to join!

From the President December 13, 2007

 

The Hard Numbers December 13, 2007

The Hard Numbers
ASC Living Wage Campaign
Figures Compiled by Steve Guthrie
11/11/07

Comparing the Board resolution with the Living Wage Campaign proposal. The current base starting pay is $10.82 an hour. As of July 2007, all current ASC employees (this doesn’t apply to Aramark employees working beside ASC employees in the dining hall) make at least $11.62 an hour.

The LWC proposal calls for $14.40 an hour by July, 2008, based on current actual rents and other expenses for a model family of one parent and two children. (These are the circumstances of some employees, and any nuclear family of four is one heart attack or car wreck away from them.) Future increases are to be indexed to actual local rents for a two-bedroom apartment by this formula: rent = 30% gross wages.

The college’s resolution calls for supplemental raises of up to 3%, in addition to cost of living raises, “when resources permit,” until 2014. The index for a living wage is the current HUD figure for local rent for a one-bedroom apartment, as reported in universallivingwage.com. The formula is rent=30% gross wages.

There are three basic problems with the college’s resolution.

1. In the second Bush term, HUD changed its way of figuring local rents. HUD reported these average Atlanta rent costs for 2005: 1 bedroom $834; 2 br $928. HUD predicts these figures for 2008: 1 br $741; 2 br $824. So according to HUD, housing costs have gone down about $100 a month over the last three years.
2. This means different living wage calculations. According to universallivingwage.org, which uses HUD rent figures, a living wage for Atlanta in 2005 was $16.04 / hr., and a living wage for 2007 is $14.25 / hr. Does anyone really believe it’s cheaper to live now than it was two years ago?
3. The college uses one-bedroom rents as the basis for its formula. That’s not reasonable for a family with children.

If we use the same rent figures the college plans to use, and if we assume a 3% cost of living raise and a 3% supplement each year, then in 2013-14 the base pay for current employees will be $16.48 / hr. If we assume a 3% rise in the cost of living each year, then a living wage for 2013-14 will be $17.02 / hr. This is a gap of $1123 per year, $93.58 per month, between income and basic expenses (never mind savings or money for emergencies) even if the college does the very most it will consider doing. The college has set 2014 as the target date for a living wage, but even by its own calculations, it will fall short.

A Brief Review of the ASC Living Wage Campaign: December 13, 2007

 

A Brief Review of the ASC Living Wage Campaign:
*  Early 1990’s: Faculty and Staff of ASC have periodic, arranged, informal dinner discussions, to facilitate meaningful relationships between the two traditionally isolated groups. Faculty in the process learn of employees financial struggles, as well as the blatant condescension and more subtle signs of class-and-race-based disrespect meted to them on a daily basis by their fellow colleagues and administrators

*  1994: The Profile, ASC’s campus biweekly, publishes “What its Like to be a Maid Here”, a straightforward and often cringe-worthy depiction of what the Custodians of Agnes Scott experience as “faceless, nameless workhorses whose existence only matters when its King Day or when Black speakers come on campus”, as one student (me) describes it.

*  2001: The Campaign is formally established, in collaboration with Columbia Theological Seminary. Annual fall Teach-ins are established.

*  Jan 25th, 2007-for the first time in college history, a Board of Trustees meeting is opened to Faculty, Staff and Students, all to formally present Living Wage to be considered part of the latest draft of the Strategic Plan; The Trustees take part in the “role play”, an hands-on demonstration of a low-wage employees daily struggle to make ends meet on what the college pays.

*  March 2007- ASC LWC holds its first regional Living Wage Conference, with students from Georgia State, University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and University  of Tennessee in attendance

*  April 2007-base pay for wages are boosted from $10.40/hour ($12 without healthcare) to $11.60. A Living Wage for Decatur at this time is $14.40.

*  Summer 2007- ESOL classes, on-campus summer employment and computer classes all begin and are offered to all Employees at ASC

*  Oct 26th, 2007- First LWC rally held, 65 in attendance. culminates with attendees “politely” inserting themselves into the Board of Trustees meeting.

*  Fall 2007-Strategic Plan falls totally short of what was originally requested by the campaign, especially in terms of democratized workplace and institutionalized respect

Treah Caldwell: Why I Support a Living Wage at ASC December 13, 2007

 

I support a living wage because I care about the behind the scenes
work that went (and goes) on to make Agnes Scott a beautiful, calm
place to learn, to grow, to make mistakes and to keep trying.  As much
as I loved my professors who pushed me, who held me, who taught me so
much. I also loved the good folk who cleaned up after me, fed me, made
the quad a wonderful place to lay down and rest in the shining sun and
bright green grass.

I was taught to do right work, to make the world a better place for
women, for everyone. How can I go forward and NOT stand next to the
other staff, faculty, and alumna as we work to make a positive,
healthy change for a school I love so much?

Treah Caldwell
Class of 2000

Meredith Stepp: Why I Support a Living Wage at ASC December 13, 2007

 

Why I support a Living Wage at Agnes Scott College 
 

Over ten years ago, I recall reading the Profile piece “What it’s Like to Be a Maid Here” while attending Agnes Scott. The article was written just two years prior to my freshman year at ASC, yet somehow the description of the author’s experience as a custodian on campus had felt like forgotten history. As a student, I sometimes heard vague recollections of a living wage campaign at Agnes Scott; the dates were cloudy, the details spotty, the outcome unknown. It was a closed chapter in the college’s book of political growing pains.  

Having sat dormant for too long, that book has been recently reopened by a community of Agnes Scott students, alumnae, and faculty who have discovered what staff has known all long: that chapter hadn’t been resolved; its protagonists were left in the lurch. “What it’s Like to Be a Maid Here,” demonstrated the social caste system among ASC staff and marginalization of custodial workers. Today, economic segregation of campus cafeteria and custodial workers reinforces and perpetuates that caste system.  

The wages of ASC service workers have not kept pace with the rise in local cost of living and inflation. In addition to working full days cleaning campus buildings, many staff members work other night and weekend jobs in order to supplement their income. Much of this income is needed to purchase healthcare services which the school does not provide. Women who have worked forty-plus years straining their physical bodies to clean our dorms and classrooms face uncertain retirements with little or no insurance.  

Furthermore, the workload of campus custodians continues to mount as staff is downsized and cleaning responsibilities increase for those who survived the cut. The college touts its 1 to 10, student to faculty ratio but does not widely advertise its custodian to building ratio. Some staff are cleaning not one, but two, entire buildings alone. Slashing staff by six custodians, while maintaining the pace of production, is the sort of thing institutional shareholders would applaud if Agnes Scott were a for-profit entity. 

Agnes Scott is not a corporation. It is place of higher learning. It is an institution that encourages its students to “live honorably” and engage “in the intellectual, cultural and social issues of its times.” I share this vision with my alma mater. Since having graduated from Agnes Scott in 2000, I have devoted my life to social justice. In doing so, I have determined that social justice is inseparable from economic justice. This realization led me to my current field of study and occupation. I am finishing my master’s degree in labor studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst while working for a local labor union.  

As an Agnes Scott alumna, I often receive requests for contributions to the college’s annual fund. As a broke graduate student, I demurely decline. However my decision is not strictly a temporal function of time and money. It is difficult for me to prioritize charitable contributions to a college that boasts a $300 million dollar endowment. Instead, I earmark what little I can give to organizations with fewer resources that benefit populations in greater need. If Agnes Scott instituted a true living wage for all its staff, I would not have to pick between giving to my alma mater and organizations committed to social and economic justice.  

Agnes Scott College was established with the distinct mission “to educate women for the betterment of their families and the elevation of their region.” It is clear that the college’s founders believed in creating an educational institution that not only enriches the lives of its students but the lives of all those who support and nurture the college as well. The honorable men and women of who feed our faculty and students and clean our classrooms and dorms are intrinsic members of the Agnes Scott community. The college pledges its “commitment to a community that values justice.” I ask my college to be the change it wishes to see in the world. Value Justice: Provide Agnes Scott Staff with a Living Wage.

-Meredith Stepp, Class of 2001 Alum

Tina Pippin: Why I Support a Living Wage at ASC December 13, 2007

 

Living wage address at faculty meeting, 11 May 2007

The Ray of Light Fund has been and continues to be an important “charitable band aid” of mutual support in times of life emergencies.  Those of us on the Ray of Light steering committee appreciate the genuine concern and generous giving from the faculty and staff over the past few years.  But we are seeing increased need as the cost of housing, utilities and the basics of living rise.  Our goal in the Ray of Light Fund is to put our committee out of business–to make the fund obsolete.  And a living wage would help us reach this goal. 

The national campus sustainability movement includes three areas:  economic, environmental and social/cultural sustainability.  Living wage for all members of the Agnes Scott College community, from custodians and contract employees to Administration, is an important part of fulfilling the mission of the College “to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of our times” and also “to be a just and inclusive community.”  At President Kiss’ request, the Living Wage Campaign at ASC developed proposals for the Strategic Plan that include not only just wages, but also democratized workplace and institutional respect across the boundaries of difference in race, social/economic class, gender, and educational privilege. 

The Living Wage Campaign is asking all of us to look deeper toward issues of systemic, institutional justice.  We believe that as long as we have a permanent underclass of low wage and poverty wage staff (full time and contract) that we will never rise to challenge of our mission statement, let alone the challenges of “global women’s leadership in the twenty-first century.”  In a recent interview in Journal of College and Character (Vol. VII/3, April 2007), Pres. Kiss sets the challenge, “I have a strong moral commitment to providing a living wage and to raising the salaries of those at the lower end of our salary scale.”  So we accept her challenge to “Stand Up, Speak Up” on this issue of economic justice.   

Just wages are only part of economic justice.  We are also calling for a reimagining of our social structure, the deeply embedded lines of race and class in the South.  Human dignity encompasses more than wages, but just wages are central to meeting “the intellectual and social challenges” of our times and basic human rights (UNDHR Article 25).  The main concern we’ve been hearing is the reality of balancing needs and what we can afford.  These concerns raise the questions of what our priorities are and who we are balancing against—whose lives are effected and how the well-being of all employees, especially long-term, low wage employees, fits into this balancing act.  This is dangerous work, as Ed Loring of the Open Door Community in Atlanta reminds us: “Dangerous is the act of reducing the distance.  We are forced to see what we have not seen, to hear what we have not heard.”  The Living Wage Campaign is about reducing the distance, going beyond simple courtesy to deeper knowledge and respect and full human dignity—through just wages, a fully-empowered Staff Senate, through valuing all skills and knowledges on this campus.  We appreciate Pres. Kiss’ willingness to hear.  And we are highlighting Kiss’ challenge to the whole campus today by asking the faculty to consider the ramifications of our institution paying poverty wages, and what anything less than full economic justice means for our College—and for each of us—in the future.

Tina Pippin
ASC Faculty
Member of the Living Wage Campaign at ASC

Della Spurley: Why I Support a Living Wage at ASC December 13, 2007

 

I support a lliving wage because as a custodian at Agnes Scott I see first hand  what the effects of not having one  has ment to me as well as my co-workers. I have been employed here for 42 years and my wages have finally got to $14.40(I still pay part of my health insurance). Most of the workers here are still not being paid to a level where they can afford to live with out working extra hours each week to help pay their bills. I will continue to support this campaign until that happens here and across the nation.

-Della Spurley
Staff Worker at ASC
Member of the ASC Living Wage Campaign

Blog About the ASC Living Wage Campaign! December 13, 2007

 Do you blog?  Consider blogging about the ASC living wage campain! 

If you do, send us your link and we will post it! 

thanks!

ascalumsforalivingwage@gmail.com

Why Do You Support a Living Wage at ASC? December 13, 2007

Send us why you support a living wage at ASC (as short or as long as you would like it to be) and we will post it on our blog and use it to recruit more folks to join the campaign.  We need people to understand why this issue is important, who’s supporting it, and why you feel passionate about it!  

Anyone can show their support for the LWC!

This will help us as we organize.  We can share these testimonials not only to help sway decision makers at ASC, but also to gain more community support for the campaign and help put more pressure on our alma mater to do the right thing.  It will also help to educate folks on the issue of economic justice and how it connects to other issues such as racial justice, women’s rights, etc… 

We will also post these testimonials, so check our blog!  Please add your name, location, ASC class year, and any other pertinent information you would like.  If you would like to remain annonymous, then please let us know.

Please send your “Why I Support a Living Wage at ASC” to ascalumsforalivingwage@gmail.com . 

PS:  help us get the word out by passing our blog along.

Dear Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees December 13, 2007

October 26, 2007

Dear Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees,

Since 1994, the Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign (LWC) has been pushing for just wages, a democratized workplace, and institutionalized respect. We know that Agnes Scott College can be a collegiate leader of economic justice and truly “live honorably” as an institution. The staff, students, and faculty involved in the LWC are “engaging in the intellectual and social challenges of our time,” and coming up with concrete solutions to eradicate economic injustice at Agnes Scott College. We are asking for the following:

1. A just wage of $14.40 plus healthcare for all Agnes Scott College staff and all contracted staff (please see attached sheet for reasoning).
2. Aramark staff to have same pay and benefits of Agnes Scott College staff or Aramark staff to become Agnes Scott College staff.
3. Appropriate workloads. Currently, the custodial staff is six people short. One person is responsible for maintaining the library, public safety and first floor Rebekah.  
4. The provision for all members of the Agnes Scott community for opportunities of personal enrichment. The steps that should be taken to meet this goal are as follows:
   1. Opening up eligibility to take part in degree courses to all interested part-time and full-time employees.
   2. Children of Aramark staff to be eligible for Agnes Scott College tuition being covered by the school.
   3. Offering ESOL courses on campus (in the Center for Teaching and Learning) to all interested employees, regardless of status, for whom English is not their primary language. (Is everyone [ie Valley Crest] able to take part?)
   4. Providing classes in computer literacy; ensuring Staff members full notification of all campus events and educational/employment relevant concerns, and allowing for better communication between staff and the entire Agnes Scott community.
5. Full inclusion of the opinions and concerns of the Facilities, Clerical, Security, and Food Services Staff by means representation and full membership on the college’s decision-making organizations, including the Executive Board and the most influential of Agnes Scott’s committees, the Board of Trustees.
6. Establishment of a permanent, democratic, and empowered Staff Senate that will meet periodically to address Staff issues.  Also, we propose a Conduct Review Board to handle any claims or occurrences of discriminatory activity or acts of intimidation that the Staff experiences from students, their supervisors, the Faculty or other Staff.  We also propose a commitment to real power sharing by managers—that they also step up to the call for mutual accountability and empowerment. (Do you have hope for the current model in the strategic plan?)
7. Inclusion of all Staff within all of the typically student and faculty-centered traditions and events that are an integral part of Agnes Scott’s fundamental purpose and overall history, creating a democratic structure that honors the wisdom and experience of all its members. The steps that should be taken to address this issue are as follows: 
   1. Ending the blatantly crude isolation and “invisibility” of the Staff: for example, not seating uniformed Staff in “designated areas” so that these individuals are regarded as attendees and not as tokens of any sort.
   2. Encouraging and creating spaces for Staff involvement in family and student on-campus events, such as Orientation and Alumnae Weekend.
   3. Offering on-campus child care for all employees and students on school holidays.
   4. Beginning the tradition of a combined holiday party, where all employees of all pay-grades and rakings celebrate together.
   5. Staff representation/participation on planning committees and panels for campus-wide events (e.g. Orientation Council).
8. A long-term partnership with the nationally recognized, multicultural education-based organization, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond whose workshops, such as “Undoing Racism/Classism” can promote open and long-overdue dialogue upon the issues of interpersonal and systematic discrimination, exclusion, and disrespect between Administration, Faculty and all Staff. 
9. The reestablishment of our Racism Free Zone (we were the first college to be a “racism free zone” that arose out of training with Bahati Ansari in the early 1990s).  We believe that, unless we work on the systemic issues of oppression (racism, classism, gender-bias, etc.) on this campus, Agnes Scott will effectively contradict the ideals stated in our Honor Code, something that will prevent us from being recognized as the distinguished institution of higher learning we strive to be.

The broader Metro Atlanta community is listening. Today, representatives from Jobs with Justice, the Teamsters, University of Georgia and Georgia State University are present. We would appreciate a response. To continue a dialogue, please contact Della Spurley, Kelly Grant, Helen Cox, Jillian Wells, Tina Pippin and Steve Guthrie.   

Sincerely,

The Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign

What It’s Like to Be a Custodian Here, Part Two December 13, 2007

What It’s Like to Be a Custodian Here, Part Two

22 March 2006  

As a custodian, I have reread the article from The Profile in 1994, “What It’s Like to Be a Maid Here.”  I would like to comment on what has changed and what has stayed the same.  Many of us have worked here for several years and want to consider ourselves members of the Agnes Scott community, so I appreciate the opportunity to update my work situation and share my experience with you. 

First of all, I am generally satisfied with my job.  I like doing a good job and being good at my job.  Agnes Scott is a good place to work for the most part.  But I would like to offer some Visine to many of you here so that you can see me a little clearer; just a few drops and maybe you would see me better, what I’m going through, and that I am a person struggling and trying my best to make it.   

The main issue for low-wage workers on campus remains respect.  You do not respect me when you don’t know my name (even though it’s written plainly on my uniform shirt).  You don’t respect me when you throw trash around everywhere but the trash can, or when you continue to walk into the bathroom I am mopping saying, “so sorry Miss…”  For the most part, I love the students and I like my job, but there are some students who are mean-spirited– trashing a dorm lounge, stopping up commodes by packing them with tissue, throwing up in the sink, using the shower as a commode and leaving the waste there for me to clean.  Think about it.  I lose time that I could be using to clean other areas.  Plus it really kills my spirit for the rest of the day, because it seems to be done on purpose.   

When you lose something, you always come to me first in a sneaky way as if you really want to ask me if I took it.  When you find it, you never come back to say, guess what - I found it under my bed, etc.   

We need to commit to breaking down the lines between us, and questioning why they existed in the first place.  Maybe it would make a difference if we were introduced to all the students in the dorm each year. 

I want to focus not on how it was but how it is.  There are many students of color who think racism and discrimination is over, that it was their parent’s generation but not theirs.  I need them to know that racism exists and is still going on right here at Agnes Scott College.  We need to come together across these class lines. 

This institution wants “the blues” (as we are negatively called) to be invisible, unless they need us to show up at the M.L. King Convocation so they can show the speaker how much they love us.  On these occasions there are so many people smiling and speaking to us as we exit.  Pressure.  Sometimes these smiles last through the lunch hour.  Then we are invisible until the next time. 

Some of our people take their breaks in “Mollies.”  Would you believe we have actually had students question “why” we are there.  Are they lazy and just goofing off from work?  You must try not to always think negatively of us.  I wish you would take the time to get familiar with the work we do. A few faculty and staff will actually have a real conversation with me; I can count them on one hand.  I want everyone in this community to have an idea of what I actually do in the building, and what I do when I leave this building.  As I said in 1994, we have a lot more in common that you know.  I want to be seen as a colleague; I want my work to be appreciated and dignified.   

Most of my colleagues are the head of their household with children.  I need an outside job but I need to be with my kid more—or else I’d have to use my outside job to pay for childcare.  I travel an hour to work each morning; that’s two hours each day.  The cost of housing in Decatur is too expensive, so I have to live further out.  The travel really cuts into my family time.   

As custodians (mostly women) our jobs have been labeled “unskilled,” while the painters and carpenters (all men) do “skilled labor.”  You tell me why the knowledge of stripping and refinishing a floor is valued less than stripping and painting a wall!  So know that my work is skilled, even though I’ve often heard that custodial work here is “unskilled.”  I have to know chemicals and combinations and how to do my job the best I can.  Our workspaces got smaller in the new buildings.  We were never consulted; think of us when you’re designing the buildings. 

 We are cleaning more buildings with fewer people.  There is more and more work and not enough people to do it.  Each time there’s a lay off, the buildings and the workload get bigger and bigger.  Did you know there is one custodian cleaning McCain Library, with its 13 restrooms?  She also cleans first floors of Main and Rebekah and the Public Safety building.  Like her, I would like to be able to follow through with my plans for the day, but each day is like starting all over again, even more so if my work “buddy” (the person I replace when they are out by doing their work as well as mine) is out sick.  We need more people to do the amount of work, if the College expects us to get the job done in a certain length of time.   

With all this extra work the pay scale is way off.  After about 10 years I am making nearly the same pay as the new workers; it’s less than 50 cents more.  They gave us a 4% increase last July after a three-year drought but it’s not enough.  I need to be paid just wages for my work.  I’m asking for enough for the basics: for childcare and rent and food and utilities and the rest.  Agnes Scott says, “We love our workers.”  This sounds to me like the same thing the slave owners said, “We love our slaves.”  How can you really respect me if you pay me poverty wages? 

Let’s get beyond being nice and really get to know each other.  Walk a mile in my shoes.  I am somebody too.  I am part of the Agnes Scott College community. 

What It’s Like to Be a Maid Here December 13, 2007

What It’s Like to Be a Maid Here

Reprinted from The Profile, 1994

                             I won’t complain about the work. It may not be pleasant, but I chose to do it and I don’t resent the fact that I pick up after people and clean their toilets. Lots of women do that for free at home. No paycheck, no retirement, no union. It’s nice to be around the students; either they’re friendly or they’re not. Easy to get along with either way.                

What I don’t like is the way I get treated in the offices. I take pride in my work, and I do a good job. I have a bad day once in a while when I just can’t seem to move. Just like the office ladies. Difference is, when they can’t move, they don’t have to. They can stay at their desks, call their friends, complain about whatever. Go to lunch a little early, stay a little longer.                 

I’m not jealous, but let someone catch me on a college phone—talking to my son’s teacher at the only time she can talk to me—and the whole department gets in trouble, and it’s meetings and memos. I see the office ladies making Xerox copies of jokes and recipes and church work and cute little poems. It’s nice they can do that. It’s nice to have an honor system for paying for copies, too. I like working in a place where everyone can be trusted, more or less. But let me walk to close to one of those machines and there is an office lady sniffing around. “Do you need some help with that? Can I help you with something?” What they really mean is, “What are you doing? Is that an official college copy? Did you pay for that?” And what they’re thinking is, “Did she take any money out of that box?”                

I listen to these same women keep up with each others’ babies and husbands and church friends and people who used to work here. Name any place, and someone in the room will know somebody else’s sister or child who lives there. They remember that kind of thing, but they can’t seem to remember my name even though I’ve been here longer than they have. They know each others’ children’s wives and husbands and their home towns and where they went to college, but they don’t know my name. Don’t know my name, and I’ve been seeing them every day since the disco era. I’ve got a husband too, same old tired one I’ve always had, and I’ve got children, and they have names. We all have names, but I know the excuses: there are so many of them, I can’t keep them straight; I don’t see her enough to talk to—like every day since 1979 is not long enough?                

We have more in common than you know. For example, here I am using a computer to write this at home. I own this house; I work in the yard. My children stay out too late, and thy get grounded. I drive my elderly neighbor to the store once a week. I’m on a very important committee at my church. We raise a lot of money, but they don’t want to know about by charities or my preferences except once a year when it’s for the United Way. Then the push is on. Do it for the community. They give it a few weeks, and then they lean on our supervisor because not enough people from our department have “donated.” We asked for a payroll deduction for that new parking fee, and they said it couldn’t be done because of the computers. Not a month after that, they’re trying to talk me into a United Way payroll deduction. One time somebody important even came in front of us and said she didn’t want to work with people who aren’t “generous.” She could fire us all, so what were we supposed to think?                

I think they never take a good look at me. They couldn’t pick me out of a lineup of other women my same age and weight. I changed my hair once, and someone whose name I’ve known for three years tried to introduce herself. You can see why Staff Day is such an ordeal. That’s the one day to be nice, to pretend we’re all on the same team. I don’t like being hauled out or sent away like furniture. When there is a convocation with a black speaker, they want us there. Tell us we have to go. If the Board of Trustees is in town, they want us to be invisible. They don’t want to see any blue uniforms around here when there are important people on campus. When there are important black people on campus, they want us around for show. Imagine if your teacher or boss picked out all the convocations you should go to and wouldn’t let you go to any others and would NOT let you go to the ones he had chosen.  

                I don’ think there’s anybody here who is mean or vicious, at least not where I clean. I think some people are afraid of me, afraid of people who look like me. Afraid that if they got too friendly I might want to live next door to them. But it’s more than that. Everybody is so darn nice here that they don’t want to hurt my feelings by admitting that they don’t know my name. They’re afraid that if they try to talk to me and say the wrong thing I’ll drop my bucket, point at them, and start screaming, “Racist!” Trust me, I won’t do it. I will treat you with respect. I need my job and I wouldn’t do anything that made everybody upset. None of us in the department would. That’s why we present everything’s okay, even though most of them pretend we’re invisible. Until a toilet overflows—then all of the sudden I’m your best friend. 

Agnes Scott College Workers Protest for Living Wages December 13, 2007

(APN) Agnes Scott College Workers Protest for Living Wages: http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0246.html

Agnes Scott College Workers Protest for Living Wages
By Jonathan Springston, Senior Staff Writer, The Atlanta Progressive News (October 28, 2007)

(APN) DECATUR – About 50 students, faculty members, staff members of Agnes Scott College, and other concerned community activists gathered on campus Friday, October 26, 2007, to ask the Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees to institute living wages for all staff members.

The Agnes Scott Living Wage Campaign has been urging trustees for some time to provide a living wage of $14.40 per hour plus healthcare for all Agnes Scott staff and all contracted staff. Agnes Scott is private liberal arts college for women.

“We hope the Board of Trustees will hear us today and will understand that we are human beings like everybody else and we’re just asking for what we think is a decent living,” Della Spurley, an Agnes Scott staff member for 42 years, said. Spurley, one leading organizer of the campaign, has only recently started making $14.40 per hour but still has no healthcare. Spurley and other staffers, who have won incremental improvements, are still overworked and underpaid, she said.

Most Agnes Scott staff members are making a base pay of $11.44 per hour for 2007-2008, up from what they made in 2006-2007 but still well short of what the campaign considers a living wage.

The campaign met with trustees earlier this year and engaged in a role-playing game where trustees learned how a single staff member with two children had to get by on a monthly budget that exceeded monthly pay.

Helen Cox, a student organizer with the campaign, told Atlanta Progressive News some of the trustees were brought to tears at the reality many staffers face each month, such as what bills to pay that month and which to let go. The custodial staff is currently six members short and there is only one person to clean two entire buildings and one floor of another, activists said. One of the campaign demands calls for an appropriate workload for staff members.

“We are so understaffed here,” Jillian Wells, co-president of Witkaze, Agnes Scott’s black student alliance said. “[The staff] are basically doing the work of two people right now and are only getting the wages of one person.”
Then there is a group of staff members who receive even less than their coworkers.

Some staff members are contracted through a private company called Aramark–which provides cafeteria and other services on campuses across the country–to do work at Agnes Scott. But these staff members are not entitled to the same pay or benefits of staff employed directly by Agnes Scott.

The campaign seeks to remedy this situation by either offering the same pay and benefits to Aramark staff or have the Aramark staff become Agnes Scott staff members.

Kelly Grant, an Aramark contract staff member and a leading campaign organizer, said she would like to take some courses at the college and that her daughter is also having trouble getting into Agnes Scott. Grant said she does not understand why she and her daughter cannot receive the same benefits as her fellow Agnes Scott staff members.
The campaign is urging trustees to allow all staff members the chance to take degree courses as well as classes in English as a second language and computer literacy.

Members of the campaign also want children of Aramark staff to be eligible for Agnes Scott tuition and for it to be paid by the college. Children of Agnes Scott staff members currently enjoy this benefit.  Receiving eligibility to take courses at Agnes Scott is just one way staff members are seeking to be more included in everyday campus life.

The campaign would like to see the inclusion of members of all facilities, clerical, security, and food services staff into the Executive Board and the Board of Trustees, as well as the creation of a permanent, democratic, and empowered Staff Senate so that staff members have a say in their own lives.

The campaign feels staff members should also be included in traditional Agnes Scott events like orientation and alumnae weekend and have representation on planning committees.
“There’s a lot of division here on this campus that should not exist,” Wells said. “It’s really important that we the students and the staff take the initiative to break down these barriers that exist between us.”
While trustees have made promises this year to provide living wages and decision- making power for Agnes Scott workers, they have so far not delivered.

Activists decided to march across campus Friday and deliver the list of demands to the trustees while their meeting was in progress. While the trustees surprisingly allowed the crowd to enter the meeting room and even applauded after a few remarks, it is unclear if the trustees will act and how soon.
About the author:

Jonathan Springston is a Senior Staff Writer for The Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at jonathan@atlantaprogressivenews.com