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
