Undergraduate student workers announced their collaboration with Teamsters Local 170 to create a bid to unionize at noon on Friday. The announcement came in the form of an official post by Instagram account @cu.ugwu.

“We are very excited to announce the undergraduate student workers effort to unionize at Clark University represented by @Teamsters,” the caption reads. The post says that the account will be for explaining the purpose of unions generally and explaining the undergrad workers’ rationale for pursuing unionization.

Teamsters Local 170 organizer Jack Kiryk put The Scarlet in contact with several student workers involved in the call to unionize. 

Why Unionize?

Groundskeeping Assistant in Facilities Management Jack Keane said that employee demands “center around higher wages and equal pay across departments with opportunities for raises, safer working conditions and more hours.”

“Certain departments continue to over staff while imposing limits on how many hours each student can work each week,” Keane said.

Nick Amlee, Student Caller for the Alumni Advancement Office, added that students are seeking increased hourly payment for all campus jobs, and for campus jobs to be more accommodating toward those with student visas. He also alleged that students with Federal Work-Study jobs have struggled with being scheduled for enough hours to be paid the full amount offered to them through Work-Study. 

“This has been an issue for multiple student employees that I know including me,” Amlee wrote to The Scarlet. “Luckily my boss has been giving me and my fellow employees the opportunity to work overtime but that still hasn’t allowed me to meet Work-Study and I’ve heard that a lot of other student employees haven’t been as lucky.”

Goddard Library Student Staff Supervisor Leo Brisson was not part of the first group that reached out to Teamsters, but after meeting with a Teamsters organizer, they “realized it was very possible for an undergraduate union to negotiate a contract.” Brisson claimed in an interview with The Scarlet that student workers are often given inconsistent work hours regardless of position and availability; some students are given more opportunities to work than others, Brisson said. 

Grounds Assistant Julia Hosek also joined the call for unionization after meeting with a Teamsters organizer. 

“When I met with the teamsters organizer I learned about a lot of the issues Clark student workers are facing, like cut hours, slashed departments, over staffing to avoid giving raises,” Hosek explained. “Clark likes to pretend that they don’t have the funds [and] resources to pay us good wages, and that simply isn’t the truth.”

Hosek, who works as a Trash Collector for the Grounds Department, listed several concerns regarding safety. Hosek cited an alleged lack of clothing stipend for jackets, and claimed that the tires on the carts they drive have an unsafe amount of tread. 

Hosek said that because Grounds Staff works on days that classes are cancelled due to snow and other adverse weather conditions, the job poses several safety hazards, and there “is a real possibility we could get hurt.”

“I wanted to join the call for unionization because I have seen how me, my coworkers, and fellow student workers across campus have been treated for the amount of work we are doing and I think we deserve more,” Maile Marguleas said. Marguleas is a Training Coordinator and Student Ambassador for Undergraduate Admissions, Office Assistant for Residential Life and Housing, and a Staff Member and Volunteer for Clark Collective Thrift Store. 

“This is one of those times that we should be selfish and recognize all of our hard work that has been put into the University.” Marguleas said.

“After students from several departments have expressed various concerns regarding their working conditions, we’ve been frustrated with the lack of regard for our peers’ time and labor,” Keane added. “We see a union as the best path toward ensuring better working conditions and rights for us all and building solidarity among students.”

Next Steps

Keane explained that Clark undergraduate student workers have been collaborating with Teamsters Local 170 for several months. This process has involved gathering support among other student workers, and Keane said he has seen “great enthusiasm about the possibility of getting this done.” He says that next steps involve an election to unionize, which will require involvement with and support from “an even wider network of students.”

Amlee added that while there is not an official contract, the current focus for organizers is mobilizing students with union cards in the hopes of facilitating an election, which would be passed only in the event of a majority vote. 

“After that, if we vote yes on forming a union, I imagine is when we’d discuss what we’d want in a contract,” Amlee concluded.

Brisson says that much of this mobilization will come through the distribution of flyers, and adds that they will begin in earnest after the Instagram announcement by @cu.ugwu. Brisson estimates that “a majority” of undergraduate student workers are currently involved in the union bid.

“It’s honestly quite motivating to hear my peers stories about their work environment, and plan ways we can create better working conditions for all of us through solidarity,” Hosek said about outreach.

Hosek, who is also on the social media team organizing the @cu.ugwu announcement, says she is confident in a unanimous vote to unionize.

“If we’ve organized our student body enough it should be no problem unanimously voting to unionize,” Hosek said.

“This is not an attack on the university at all,” Marguleas added. “It is merely to show actually the strength that the student body has when we bind together.”

Hopes For Unionization

“I hope they negotiate a good contract and for an increase in wages,” Brisson said. “And certificates for groundspeople for equipment safety. Really I’m hoping for a wage increase, and concerned for my fellow campus workers.”

Hosek says her main hopes for the union are a clothing stipend for grounds workers and increased safety measures.

“Undergrad employees help make this university run,” Hosek said. “We are your trashmen, mailmen, information resource, library assistants, tech help, etc… Without us the university simply would not be able to function. I love Clark, and I actually enjoy my job here, but that doesn’t mean that Clark can’t treat its employees better.” 

“The ideal hope is that the union will create a backing throughout all of Clark’s campus—one where whether or not you are a brand new worker or have been there for 4 years, you feel you have support behind you,” Marguleas said. “It’s also about being a part of a community, knowing that everyone all throughout the entirety of Clark University’s campus, is fighting for the same thing.”

Editor’s Note: The author is an undergraduate student employee of Clark University but not involved in the call to unionize or in union organization.