May Day is Labor Day everywhere in the world but the United States. It’s International Workers’ Day. To commemorate this day, I want to talk about the workers right here - workers at UW-Madison.
At the last meeting of this ASM Council term, we passed a resolution supporting the efforts of workers across the country fighting for higher wages and expressed our support for higher wages for all workers on this campus, including student hourly workers. We as students cannot pretend we are disconnected from the struggles and obstacles workers across the country and the world are facing. We also cannot be disconnected from the other workers on this campus that allow this school to run and allow us to get the education we want.
With the continuous budget cuts this University has faced, many campus workers, especially the lowest-paid ones, have not seen a raise in a decade. Our teaching assistants are eligible for many public assistance programs. We have academic staff and adjunct faculty teetering on the edge of poverty. What does this tell us as students the value of our education if these jobs that require a higher education will never come close to allowing us to pay off our massive student loan debt? In this context going to college seems more and more like a scam.
Speaking of student loan debt, the exclusion of student hourlies from any sort of living wage is another major problem. How can students expect to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in tuition when we make $8.50 an hour (the median wage for student workers)? The University claims that our first priority should be our education, not work. I absolutely agree. That’s why we need to be paid enough to not have to work every hour of the day.
In this context and the context of over a decade of budget cuts to public education comes the coup de grâce to this University and its workers in the form of an additional 300 million dollar cut. Yet another excuse for this University to keep its workers in poverty, to keep college too expensive, and to lay off those most in need. When we cut 400 positions, will they be from administration or classified staff?
The University is the biggest employer in Dane County. These budget cuts are really just the most efficient way to throw as much of Dane County into poverty as possible, from students to 30 year veterans of the workforce. It’s clear that University administration’s attempts to play nice with the state government, to be on the defensive, to reluctantly accept the austerity compromises will only result in an emboldened government. It’s time for the best paid people at this University to make the case of why every element of our University needs to be properly funded and is a boon to the broader community. It’s either that or those well-paid administrators should think about giving up their salaries so those that really run this University can get paid.
Megan is a sophomore and is an ASM Student Council Representative. What do you think of her view on University employees? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
