The Journal

Issue date: 4/21/05 Section: News

Media Credit: RYAN RUMBERGER / The Journal Webster professor Dan Hellinger signs a petition amid a group of supporters at a rally outside the admissions office in support of students protesting for a living wage at Washington University April 16.

Webster University professors and students are paying close attention to the sit-in and hunger strike at Washington University, and are weighing in on the role of students activism.

The protest at Wash U has lasted more than two weeks. The Student Worker Alliance has occupied the admissions office since April 4. They have refused to leave until the university negotiates a living wage for the school's lowest-paid workers, who make as low as $7.50 an hour without benefits. Even though the Webster custodial staff make more than others in the same field, they still do not make a living wage, which is defined as $9.79 an hour by standards set by a St. Louis Ordinance.

Alan MacNeill, associate professor in history, politics and law, said several students have shown an interest in raising the issue on Webster's campus, but he doesn't forsee anything like the protests at Wash U.

"Wages for low wage workers have been falling for the last few decades and it will continue to drop without activism," he said. "Students are stakeholders, since they pay tuition. Students can say we don't like these policies, we don't like the way things are run."

MacNeill, who teaches economics, said one of the benefits for the university to subcontract is it doesn't have to deal as much with complaints about how workers are treated. Just like companies such as Gap and Nike, they can subcontract the work and claim it's not their responsibility.

"Webster administration should be paying attention to these issues and what's going on in the community," MacNeill said. "They are not separate from this and should look at living wage proposals."

Others think that a university has a responsibility to hold up standards of equality. Art Silverblatt, professor of media communications, thinks the university is not fulfilling its promise of cultural diversity and fairness.

"So much of what we talk about in class is respect for people," Silverblatt said. "We show an inconsistency in our philosophy if some people aren't paid a living wage."

Continued...

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