As the only campus organization dedicated to the needs of workers, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee plays a uniquely vital role on Georgetown’s campus. Although the University administration is nominally committed to the Jesuit value of social justice, many of the subcontracted workers on campus, including Leo’s workers and custodial staff, work long hours for meager wages, all while receiving inadequate healthcare services. The University regularly subcontracts to corporations—like Aramark and P&R—which have historically come under fire for being reluctant to honor workers’ unionization efforts.
Although the University implemented a Just Employment Policy in July 2005, the administration initially barred workers from attending meetings of the Advisory Committee on Business Practices, despite the Committee’s own guidelines requiring three staff members to be present. The Just Employment Policy was implemented after GSC’s Living Wage Campaign in March, when a group of GSC students mounted a successful hunger strike to urge the administration to raise custodial workers’ wages. Even after this successful campaign, the administration was reluctant to grant workers access to the ACBP meeting concerning their own wages. The University’s tepid response to workers’ needs speaks to the importance of GSC’s work.
The University’s Just Employment Policy sets minimum standards for workers’ wages and requires vendors to respect workers’ rights to unionize. However, in the case of the Leo’s campaign, workers reported that they consistently faced arbitrary discipline, including termination, by Aramark management. GSC members helped the Leo’s workers organize in secret for four years, gathering pledges of support to present a united front to the Aramark management. Solidarity clearly played a significant role in encouraging Leo’s workers to confront a resistant and retributive bureaucracy. The prolonged, strategic efforts of GSC came through where the University’s passive employment policy fell short. (https://www.hitc.com/)
Even though the University boasts many student groups dedicated to worthy social justice endeavors—from Prison Outreach to D.C. Reads—GSC is unique in focusing on the rights of workers on campus. Students who organize with GSC gain valuable experience that will help them continue their work after graduation. And they are certainly an indispensable asset to Georgetown, where the administration must always be held accountable for ensuring workers’ rights.
