Hunger strikes at the University of Miami and ‘living wage' campaigns

NUS NEC notes

1. That a liquids-only hunger strike is currently in progress at the University of Miami;

2. That janitors, housekeepers and groundskeepers are taking this action in order to win the right to join a Union;

3. That their employer, a contractor called UNICCO, has threatened and intimidated these workers;

4. That six students have joined the hunger strikers;

5. That the hunger strikers are demanding that the University President (broadly equivalent to our own VCs) intervene in the dispute and tell UNICCO to recognise the right of these workers to form a Union;

6. That Donna Shalala, the University President, is so far refusing to intervene;

7. That the hunger strike is supported by civil rights leaders, politicians and labour leaders;

8. That several of the strikers have already been hospitalised by their action;

9. That the strikers are asking for support from other groups in lobbying Donna Shalala to take action and end this dispute.

NUS NEC further notes

1. The visit to the UK of two activists involved in a similar action at Georgetown University (Washington DC) from the 27th May to 2nd June.

NUS NEC believes

1. That the issues of casual labour and non-unionised workplaces at the University of Miami mirror events in the UK, such the Living Wage campaign, which was successful at Queen Mary’s University London and which is ongoing at LSE;

2. That the facility exists for us very easily to contact Donna Shalala, via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=87

3. That the ability to form a Union is a basic right that should be extended to all workers, and is key to ensuring a basic level of material security for all;

4. That involvement in Trade Unions is key to grassroots democratic participation and good citizenship;

5. That non-unionised workers are less productive and less motivated than their colleagues who are Union members, and thus contribute less to students’ positive experience of their institution and, consequently, their ability to learn.

NUS NEC resolves

1. To contact Donna Shalala as soon as possible expressing our views on this issue;

2. To place a statement of our views on this issue, and a link to the web page named in Further Believes 2, onto our websites;

3. To reaffirm our commitment to supporting Trade Union organisation on our campuses, both among academic staff - regardless of whether we agree with their actions or not - and among support staff;

4. To reaffirm our commitment to supporting Trade Union organisation among our students.

5. To encourage CMs to lauch living wage and Trade Union rights campaigns on their campuses wherever possible.

6. To send a message of to campaigners at QMUL, congratulating them on their success in making QMUL the UK's first ‘living wage campus.'