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Sit-In at UVA!
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENTS ARE SITTING-IN RIGHT NOW TO DEMAND A LIVING WAGE!
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!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: UVA Must Pay!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Dear President Casteen,
By the time you read this, members of the Living Wage Campaign at the University of Virginia will have begun a sit-in in Madison Hall. Those students plan to sit in until the University accepts its moral responsibility and commits to paying a real living wage.
The Living Wage Campaign has worked since 1998 to ensure that all University employees can afford to live and raise their families in the Charlottesville community. After years of meetings and coalition-building, I believe that escalation is justified in order to force the administration to confront its responsibility for the poverty in any community.
Hundreds of University workers, overwhelmingly women and people of color, are currently paid less than a living wage. It is morally reprehensible to pay poverty wages to the very employees who keep the University safe, beautiful, and functioning, when we have the resources to compensate them with dignity, as thousands of students, workers, faculty members, unions, alumni/ae, and community members have agreed.
The sit-in has been seriously considered and undertaken with the best interest of the University deeply at heart. I demand that no one suffer disciplinary consequences or civil liability as a result of participation in these acts of peaceful civil disobedience.
All University employees, whether directly employed or hired through outside firms, must be paid a living wage of at least $10.72 per hour before benefits, adjusted at least annually to inflation and the cost of living in Charlottesville.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
April 10, 2006
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Check out these other sample letters:
Sample Alumni Letter
Dear President Casteen,
As an alumnus/a of the University of Virginia, I urge you to implement a living wage of $10.72/hr (adjusted annually for inflation), plus benefits, for everyone working for the University, whether directly employed, hired as casual labor, or subcontracted to outside firms.
It is unconscionable for people to be working full-time and receive wages which are inadequate to support a family living in Charlottesville. The University should be a model employer, and set an example for young future leaders of the business and political worlds.
Regulatory intervention is not essential to achieve adequate working conditions when an employer has the resources. The University should take the high moral ground on this issue, rather than deferring to "market" forces. Surely, a university with the twentieth largest endowment in the nation can afford to pay its workers a living wage. I am ashamed that the University of Virginia is taking the position it has and will not make any further financial contributions unless it makes this issue a priority.
Sincerely,
Sample 2006 Grad Letter
Dear President Casteen,
As a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Virginia, I urge you to implement a living wage of $10.72/hr (adjusted annually for inflation), plus benefits, for everyone working for the University, whether directly employed, hired as casual labor, or subcontracted to outside firms.
It should be embarrassing to the University to be among the richest educational institutions in the nation and yet not pay its workers enough to live on. The University demands the highest level of achievement from its students, chooses faculty with only the finest academic credentials, and employees staff members who work tirelessly to keep the students fed, buildings immaculate and Grounds pristine.
In our time here you have challenged us to live up to our highest potentials, and now we are asking you to do this same. This means that UVA shouldn?t just be comfortable paying a "decent" wage or a wage that is consistent with "market trends," but rather should strive to pay wages that acknowledge the high basic cost of supporting a family in Charlottesville.
I believe that the University, as the largest employer in the region, has the opportunity and obligation to be a leader in addressing the 25% poverty rate in Charlottesville. I am ashamed that your administration is taking the position it has and I refuse to make any financial contributions unless it alters its stance. I will encourage my fellow graduates to do the same.
Sincerely,
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