Campaign Unavailable

Students at the University of Virginia began a sit-in on Wednesday February 12th to demand that the university pay its employees a living wage! As of Monday April 10, 2006, it has been 2,915 days since UVA President John Casteen was first publicly asked to make sure that his employees were no longer earning poverty wages. The Living Wage Campaign has a long history at UVA, but the most recent incarnation of the effort has been putting public pressure on the University since February 20, 2006. In that time we have already won a $0.49 raise for UVA's lowest-paid directly hired employees, but we continue to press forward with our demands. UVA prides itself on being a leader in many fields, and we demand that it also be a leader in its employment practices.

As the largest employer in the region, UVA must realize that it has an obligation to be a leader in addressing the 25% poverty rate in Charlottesville. Members of the Living Wage Campaign have met with President Casteen and other members of the administration, with the Rector and other members of the Board of Visitors, and have been met with a variety of reasons for why our demands are simply not a priority for the University. Although President Casteen has expressed his commitment to low-wage workers before, he has publicly stated that he does not support a living wage even in principle.

Please send a letter to President Casteen urging him to be a leader in this issue!

If you would like to view details on this alert, please visit here.