Although there is power in numbers, power in collective action – being coerced into an agreement is not the power you are craving. If you are too fearful of saying no, there is a larger issue at stake. If you are like any of us, you may feel like there are only a handful of louder voices during this movement; so to give some perspective and some quieter voices the same space to speak.
Large politicized terminology, coercion, or continuous guilting into forming your opinions for you, the fear-mongering coming from both sides is only further perpetuating the politicization and polarization on our campus.
As a college student who needs work-study and completely agrees with the strike, I find myself worried about losing my job. I agree with the strike efforts in that certain students may want more from Clark than what the undergrad student body is currently getting. However, I am not aware of what, besides a pay increase and more opportunities, are leading our craving for a union. For myself, I worry about losing the job I have currently. While striking can be beneficial, I feel as though I have to choose between two bad decisions. Do I strike and support not only myself but my fellow students? Or, rather, do I choose to feel safe and secure in knowing I will not lose the job I have now? I hope I have given someone a voice who may also be having similar feelings.
Like many other students, who rely on their biweekly paycheck to pay for groceries, rent, utilities, medical needs, or one of the many other bills to pay, I do not have the option to strike right now. And even with this “strike fund,” it should have given me a sense of comfort about striking. But it didn’t. I had more questions about what this fund would exactly cover. “Up to” a certain amount does not guarantee that amount. Especially not with the 600+ undergraduate workers said to strike.
But, I do want to state that a Union would be beneficial for any student worker in the long run to reach some sort of work stability, gain a living wage, and receive respectful treatment from our employers. However, the way this movement has been structured has left aside the opinion of those who could be impacted the most by the consequences, whether positive or negative. Those of us who are more vulnerable on legal grounds, such as the International community at Clark. Plenty of us have expressed our concerns about engaging with a strike and have been faced with rejection and misinformation. If this movement is for the Undergraduate population, why is voicing our concerns taken as a negative action? Why does it feel like we are being judged for our decisions when our experiences aren’t even being considered? Why does the judgment of my character get put on the line by expressing concern about striking?
This just further proves that the intentions of striking are unclear and not specific. It feels more reactive than effective at this point in time, and there needs to be more evidence-based reasoning for the strike for the efforts of the union. I do not disagree that a union could empower us, that having a voice at the table would benefit our experience as undergraduate student workers (and therefore as students – because, yes, part of our experiential learning does come from our ‘professional’ experiences that we have the opportunity to have at Clark), that things, like pay wages and fair, secure hours, are important issues to address (more than just a discussion). We do want to see change in the system, but we are not going to do that with a strike – if anything, we are further dividing us as student workers. Knowing a large group of students who were either intimidated to say no due to a variety of reasons or were unable to vote because of feeling like they were determining the safety of “all undergraduate students everywhere,” the intimidation tactics and guilting throughout the strike campaign were disheartening, to say the least. If we want to pull together and be stronger in numbers, let all the perspectives step in to stop whitewashing these issues.
There are more complexities than are being addressed. There are more stories and voices being intimidated to stay quiet otherwise your character will be judged, or your moralities questioned, or your responsibilities labeled for you. Forming a union can absolutely still be a goal we agree with – but there has to be a more inclusive, equitable, accessible and integrous path to doing so.
Correction: There was a passage which claimed that international students are not legally allowed to access funds from a strike fund. This is not the case and the passage has been removed. The Scarlet regrets that this was presented as fact.
