> >Demanding an answer > > > ><http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/userhomepage.php?userid=92>Staff Writer - > >2005-04-18 20:12:14 > >For several years, the fight for justice on the job has been a >controversial issue around campus. This semester, the United Campus >Workers-Communication Workers of America Local 3865 has campaigned for a >fair raise of a flat $1,200 to all of the workers on campus, rather than >the currently proposed 1 percent raise, which will disproportionately >benefit employees who already make the most. The extra $100 a month will >make a real difference in the lives of the immorally underpaid employees >of this university. Our student group, the Progressive Student Alliance, >which works for social justice and peace, has worked closely with the UCW >to raise awareness and support among the students about their Fair Raise >campaign. We built a display, which many of you may have seen, that began >to reveal the real, lived experiences of workers on this campus and the >need for a fair, flat raise. At the display, in our classrooms, in the UC >Plaza and elsewhere on campus we collected over 2,000 petition signatures >in support of the campaign, mostly from students. And then we requested a >meeting with President Petersen to bring him those signatures, and speak >on behalf of the 2,000 voices who said that they wanted campus employees >to get a fair raise, voices that demanded a better quality of life for all >of UT’s employees. > >On Wednesday, March 16, fifteen minutes before our 4:00 appointment, 11 >well-dressed members of PSA and two staff members of The Daily Beacon, a >photographer and a reporter both there to cover it for the paper, filed >onto the eighth floor of Andy Holt Tower to formally meet with Petersen, >who had denied to meet with the UCW already. After a few minutes, our >group was escorted into the conference room and told, “It will only be a >few moments.” > >At 4:15, our group began to worry. > >At 4:30, we became a little angry. > >Around 4:40, a secretary came in for PSA member Aimee Boer. Despite the >fact that Aimee had told the secretary, Jane Pullum, that there were to be >several members attending this meeting, she was told that only she could >meet with Petersen on the grounds that she scheduled the appointment. We >asked if someone could go in with her. The answer was a flat “no.” > >We asked if one of our prepared speakers could go in instead. > >“No.” > >We asked if The Beacon could go in. > >“No,” again. > >At 4:45, 45 minutes after the time our meeting was scheduled, Aimee was >escorted into the secretary’s office where she met with a man to whom she >was not introduced, and then, finally, she was taken to meet with >President Petersen. > >On the outside, our group worried about Aimee. She didn’t even have our >prepared information or a copy of our 300-page, 2,000-signature petition >to present to him. We asked the secretary if she could give these >materials to her so that she might present them to the president. She >agreed to do so. We later found out that what we had sent to her was given >to her only at the end of her meeting, and she was able only to give them >to the president without explanation. > >Petersen did most of the talking. He asked her questions about herself, >her major and chatted about his son. After she tried to discuss the Fair >Raise campaign with him, he avoided the issue, mostly stating how the >budget was just a “big balancing act” and not ever speaking directly to >the issue of the raise, which will cost the university less than the >percentage raises would. Tired of going in circles, she asked directly, >“How do you feel about this raise?” > >He repeated himself. > >She asked him if he would go on record and sign our petition. > >His response was that he “does not sign petitions.” > >She asked, “Are you aware that one-third of hourly workers on this campus >make poverty wages?” > >He answered, bluntly, “I’m aware.” Shortly thereafter, the meeting was over. > >We were lied to, treated without respect, bullied and ignored. Petersen >refused to respond to the 2,000-plus voices that called for him and our >university’s administration to support a fair, flat raise of $1,200 for >all employees on campus, and in doing so support a higher quality of life >for them all. > >We have since attempted to reschedule a meeting with President Petersen, >but his secretary, Jane Pullum, who has personally expressed that she >doesn’t feel as if we should meet with him again, has yet to be of >assistance. We also requested to meet with Chancellor Loren Crabtree, who >also said that he didn’t want to meet with us, despite the fact that we >represent over 2,000 students, faculty and staff who support this fair raise. > >Petersen and Crabtree may not care. We, however, do. > >We have a problem with the fact that one-third of our full-time, hourly >workers live in poverty and are paid poverty wages. We have a problem with >the fact that our administration refuses to meet with an organization of >its workers. We have a problem with the fact that our administration >refuses to meet with a student group, speaking on behalf of 2,000 of its >peers (that’s one in every 13 students, and undoubtedly there are more who >have not yet signed the petition). > >We demand an answer, and we, along with thousands of others, demand that >it be YES to the fair raise. > >— Ruba Nuwayhid and Brian May are freshman members of PSA and can be >reached at [log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask] Inquiries can also be sent >to Progressive Student Alliance at [log in to unmask] >Cameron Justin Brooks >Organizer >United Campus Workers >Communications Workers of America Local 3865, AFL-CIO >1721 Cumberland Avenue >Knoxville, TN 37916 >865-387-4408 >1-877-CWA-3865 Fritz W. Efaw, SB, AAdipl, PhD, Rose of Cimarron Distinguished Chair of Excellent Edu-Babble. FACIEMUS !