Meeting our responsibility to low-wage workers

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the Harvard Sit-In, the daring occupation of Harvard's Mass Hall perpetrated by students protesting Harvard's "poverty wages." In April 2001, Harvard (like Princeton) was paying very low wages to some of its workers in spite of the high cost of living in the Cambridge area. Moreover, Harvard's administrators had dragged their feet on every proposal from the Living Wage Campaign, pushing students towards the drastic step of taking over Mass Hall. The protesters gained support from movie-stars and senators, as well as enormous media attention. When they eventually left the building 21 days later, they'd also won a pledge from Harvard's administration to address their concerns.

We'll have a chance in the next few days to hear what's happened since. On Thursday night, the Harvard campaigners (and some Harvard workers) are coming to Princeton to show their movie, Occupation (narrated by Ben Affleck), and to talk about their ongoing efforts. Next Monday, meanwhile, the Woodrow Wilson School hosts labor economist Larry Katz, chair of the Harvard committee established after the sit-in to address the concerns of low-wage workers. The committee, composed of students and workers as well as professors and administrators, made several positive recommendations — including raising the wages of Harvard workers to at least $10.68 per hour, the 'living wage' standard set by the city of Cambridge. Harvard's new president, Larry Summers, accepted most of these changes in January of this year.

At Princeton, the Workers' Rights Organizing Committee (WROC) has enjoyed similar successes, particularly since the appointment of Shirley Tilghman to the presidency. However, the process of creating an equitable work environment for low-wage staff, at both Princeton and Harvard, has only just be-gun. Though both universities have a-dopted a similar standard for a 'minimum wage' (around $11 per hour), neither has a-greed to adopt a wage-floor that will be adjusted upwards annually to ensure that workers' wages are not eroded by inflation. Moreover, Princeton has strongly pushed its flawed 'merit review' system for low-wage staff, a system that features minimal review and a wildly arbitrary assessment of merit. Though both universities deserve credit for listening to public pressure and raising wages, there is a danger that the Summers and Tilghman administrations will rest on their laurels and consider this problem resolved; or, worse still, that administrators may zealously oppose further changes on the assumption that they've already made enough 'concessions' to low-wage workers.

One of the important consequences of this recent debate has been an increased awareness, both on and beyond campus, of just how hard it is for the working poor to get by in today's economy. Another recent visitor to campus, Barbara Ehrenreich, told a packed McCormick audience last month about her experiences working several low-wage jobs. Ehrenreich's findings — published as Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America — are shocking: low-income people working three or more jobs to make ends meet; workers forced to live in their cars or in dilapidated hotels since they can't afford the deposit on an apartment; oppressive work environments in which low-income folks endure back-breaking labor and are deterred from joining a union. Perhaps even more striking than the individual tales told by Ehrenreich was the fact that she made her brief foray into this other world of low-wage work in 1998, when the American economy was at the top of the curve. If she had it tough working as a waitress, a cleaner or a Wal-Mart 'associate' back then, things have only gotten harder as the economy has moved into recession.

Though Harvard and Princeton have made some efforts to clean up their act, we have a special responsibility to use the wealth of these institutions (both financially and intellectually) to engage with the problems of the working poor in America today. As a campus community, we have to learn more about the circumstances of low-income workers, and to do everything in our power to ensure that they are not exploited. The visits of the Harvard campaigners and Professor Katz can help us with this. WROC has also teamed up with Psychology and Public Affairs professor Eldar Shafir to undertake a major survey of Princeton's low-wage staff. In the next couple of weeks, hundreds of workers will be asked to complete a short questionnaire asking not only about Princeton's labor policies, but also about how workers get by on the wages they receive from the University. Can they pay their bills? Are they able to find adequate childcare for their kids? Do they have to work two or three jobs to survive? This survey will give us a real glimpse into the lives of our workers — and should help all of us in the ongoing debate over how to reward and care for these important members of the Princeton community. Nicholas Guyatt, a graduate student in the history department, is from Bristol, England. He can be reached at nsguyatt@princeton.edu.