UVA LIVING WAGE NOW- Community Calls for Action

JOIN WORKERS and COMMUNITY to SUPPORT the DEMAND for a LIVING WAGE at UVA
February 18-24 at the Rotunda at UVA (street side)
This Saturday 1 pm- rally and announcement that the time is now for action
Actions Daily 1 pm and 6 pm !!!
mark your calendars for Feb 22- 24 to meet the board of visitors as they gather in Charlottesville
more info

recent events sponsored by the Cville Workers Action Network-

On Wednesday, February 15th a small crowd gathered at Madison Hall on University grounds to submit a letter drafted by Charlottesville community members calling for a living wage of $13.00 per hour for all workers at UVA including contracted employees.

The letter, signed by 10 organizations including Cville Workers Action Network, Campus Workers United, the IWW, Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP and Virginia Organizing, as well as several well known individuals including Kristin Szakos, Vice-Mayor of Charlottesville, supports the demands made by students and faculty for a commitment to a living wage by this Friday February 17th.

The letter states that “the time for straight answers and firm commitments is here,” pointing out that “scrupulous” research and respect for administrative process has been followed up to this point.

The letter demands:

- a living wage of no less than $13.00 per hour as the base pay for all direct employees;
- cost of living adjustments that are automatic and annual;
- all contracts with University service providers to include a living wage and cost of living adjustments

The groups signing the letter state that they support the students and faculty and “fully support their demands as presented on February 8, 2012″, when 328 faculty signatures were presented to UVA along with the living wage campaign’s demands by a deadline of Feb. 17.

Those demands include

1. Every UVA employee must be guaranteed a LIVING WAGE under university policy, at least $13.00.
2. All working members of the UVA community have the right to job security.
3. All UVA workers must be guaranteed safe, just, and humane working conditions.
4. The University must allow and facilitate the creation of a Living Wage Oversight Board.

A detailed list of demands and implementation plan can be found at http://www.livingwageatuva.org/official-demands/

The full community letter is below:

Dear President Sullivan and University of Virginia Board of Visitors:

We, the undersigned, write to you today to express our commitment to economic justice and to call on you to act.

We are individuals and organizations who have great concern for the well being of the people who live and work in our community, particularly in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. We share a commitment to economic justice and to equity in our communities. Collectively, the organizations we represent have thousands of members.

As the area’s largest employer, the University of Virginia has a responsibility — indeed, an obligation — to improve our community.
We believe that the University has neglected this obligation and continues to do so. We call on you to take action by finally resolving the issue of living wages at the University in a fair, satisfying, and comprehensive way. We call on you to take this action now.

As you surely recognize, the University affects the cost of living in Charlottesville in major ways, particularly with respect to housing costs. We believe that the University could offset the negative impacts of its increasing these costs for some of our community’s most vulnerable members by paying its employees enough to meet the cost of living.

We remind you that in 2000 the University committed to a base pay increase for direct employees, and that we commended you for doing so.
That increase, however, did not include cost of living adjustments, nor did it include contracted employees. We had hoped that these issues would be addressed in a timely manner — certainly by now, a dozen years later.

During that period, the Living Wage Campaign, currently configured as Workers And Students United, repeatedly presented its scrupulous research and stated its case with deep respect for administrative process. Concurrently, we in the community have stood with workers, students, and faculty. We have called on you to listen to their concerns, rallied, written letters, and requested meetings. In good faith, all of us have asked for commitments from you. The arguments have now been presented, the necessity and practicality of action proven.

Overall, it must be said, we have not been satisfied with the University’s response. Frankly, at times we have even been disappointed by the dismissive tone of University communications. Such feelings, however, are fleeting compared with the enduring nature of the issues at stake.  And like those issues, the Living Wage Campaign will not go away — that is, until those issues are resolved in a fair, satisfying, and comprehensive manner.

The time for straight answers and firm commitments is here. The University of Virginia needs to pay a living wage to all of its employees. We believe that the University has the potential to be a powerful force for positive change in our community. To further this end, we call for:

- a living wage of no less than $13.00 per hour as the base pay for all direct employees;
- cost of living adjustments that are automatic and annual;
- all contracts with University service providers to include a living wage and cost of living adjustments

We stand with Workers And Students United and fully support their demands as presented on February 8, 2012 and will stand with them on February 17, 2012 and beyond if a commitment is not made to ensure a living wage, safe working conditions, and job security for all workers by that date.

As always, workers, students, faculty, and community are standing united in our call for a living wage. We are present, we are showing up, and we are taking the steps necessary to gain equity and economic justice in our community through the establishment of a living wage for all workers at the University of Virginia.

Respectfully,

Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP

Virginia Organizing

Legal Aid Justice Center

Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice

Public Housing Association of Residents

Campus Workers United

Wayside Center for Popular Education

Cville Workers Action Network

Socialist Party of Central Virginia

Richmond General Organizing Branch Industrial Workers of the World

Joyful Dissent

Kristin Szakos- Vice-Mayor City of Charlottesville

David Swanson- founder WarIsACrime.org, author, blogger

M. Rick Turner- president Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP

Brenda Lambert- Community Activist

Jim Shea- Community Activist

Jeffery Fogel- Civil Rights Attorney

Living Wage 1995-2012

Community Groups send Letter to UVA President on Wage Info Sharing

President Sullivan:

It has come to our attention that several important contracts between U.Va. and service vendors are up for renegotiation in the coming months, with the first deadline as soon as May 9th.  We request that the University take steps to edit these contracts so that wage and benefit information can be shared with the public.  The citizens of Charlottesville have a vested interest in maintaining transparency and openness in all business dealings in the municipality.  As the largest employer in the area, the University has a responsibility to uphold standards of honesty and candidness in its contracts.

The largest contractor at the University, ARAMARK, already has a stipulation in its agreement that states “ARAMARK will exchange with the University annually information which describes the compensation and benefits offered by ARAMARK to its employees located at the University of Virginia.”  We urge you to include a similar clause in the contracts up for renegotiation in the next few months, including:  Apache Security, on May 9th, Zatar Cleaning on July 30th, Universal Cleaners on August 5th, and Turner’s Cleaning on August 11th, and all other contracts up for renegotiation this year.

We are aware that the Living Wage Campaign has called for action on this request by May 5th and we too ask that you take action by this deadline.  Issues of just compensation and the decent treatment of workers are major concerns of the Charlottesville community and we think that increased transparency with vendors would be a major step in this direction. We await your response.

Sincerely,

Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice
Albemarle/Charlottesville NAACP
Wayside Center for Popular Education
Cville Worker Action Network
Richmond IWW
SP-CVA

May 3rd UVA Workers Meet-Up “What is a Living Wage?”

The Cville Workers Action Network will be hosting a meeting for any and all employees at the University of Virginia (including contracted employees!) To discuss the living wage campign at UVA, and to hear what workers have to say and where they would like to see the campaign headed.

May 3
7:00 pm
Random Row Bookstore- 315 W. Main St (across from the Greyhound Station)
Childcare will be provided
This meeting is completely confidential, and no UVA administration will be allowed in.

Join fellow workers and members of the living wage campaign to learn about a living wage, how to organize, and give much needed input into the campaign.
Workers Action Network will be hosting a series of these discussions over the summer so that all workers will have a chance to engage.

Feel free to offer any thoughts, ask questions and contact us at
(434) 218-0330
cvilleworkernetwork@gmail.com

Mission Statement

Mission Statement
The Charlottesville/Albemarle Workers Action Network exists as a resource for workers in the area to get the tools and information they need to improve their lives. It is our belief that workers in the area have very few resources as far as unions or labor activism are concerned. Therefore, we strive to make the needs of workers a priority in Charlottesville, to bring the labor movement to our community and to have a way to express solidarity amongst the many struggling working people in Charlottesville and Albemarle.

It is our belief that the lack of institutional workers groups presents an opportunity to organize workers in a more direct and radical way that focuses on improving conditions for workers, not simply building unions. We want workers to be the driving force behind making changes at their jobs, therefore, we don’t favor one strategy over another, our goal is to give workers a chance to be heard, not to collect dues that ultimately wind up in the hands of politicians. We do support workers organizing on their own behalf, and making those decisions on their own.

Whether it be organizing a union, learning about rights as an employee, filing worker’s comp claims, engaging in non-traditional forms of organizing, or addressing issues outside of the workplace that affect workers, we offer to discuss options, make plans, and help workers to engage in effective labor activism and advocacy. We plan to offer information on a wide range of subjects and issues so that workers might feel more knowledgeable and comfortable in taking steps to improve their conditions. Some of the resources we can offer include- talking to organizers, putting workers in touch with union workers, discussing strategies for non-traditional unionizing, sifting through legal questions, finding safe spaces to meet, and using technology to advance your project like phone conferences, website construction, e-mail lists.

We are building a network of committed and experienced organizers, activists, and fellow workers willing to answer questions, help to organize, or simply listen to the needs of workers in Charlottesville/Albemarle. Volunteers come from a variety of styles of organizing and we can help find the best strategies for dealing with different problems in the workplace.

We are interested in hearing from you! All workers are welcome to use our resources, including the undocumented, volunteers or the unemployed!

Contact us for help in your workplace-

spvirginia@comcast.net

(434) 249-3312

Tags: albemarle, charlottesville, labor union, union, workers rights