To the Editor:
It has come to my attention that the Rensselaer administration is once again resisting service workers’ right to unionize. After the last attempt in 2000, the administration promised improvements for these workers that have not manifested. I am concerned about the administration’s tactics not only because it is illegal to bar workers from forming a union under the Federal Labor Relations Act, but also because the administration is creating a hostile work environment for those individuals who maintain and sustain our campus community.
Students and faculty should be outraged that in spite of the high cost of tuition at RPI, the service workers who clean our classrooms, dorms, and offices, who make repairs to our buildings, and who ensure that the campus grounds are safe and beautiful receive substandard wages and must pay for health care out of their own pockets.
I am ashamed for the Rensselaer community that many of our service workers must work two jobs in order to make ends meet, have little job security, have no formal grievance procedure to ensure fair treatment, and have inadequate retirement benefits after many years of loyal service. How can President Jackson and the rest of the administration begin to talk about “communiversity” when Rensselaer does not treat service workers from the Troy community as equals, as individuals who have the right to support their families with adequate wages and fair benefits?
I urge students and faculty to voice support for the service workers’ fight to unionize. Much good can come from telling the workers we see everyday in our classrooms, dorms, and offices that we appreciate their labor and from telling the administration that we will not tolerate poor working conditions on our campus.
Jill A. Fisher
STS GRAD
