The Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), a national organization, has only been around the University of Massachusetts campus for two-and-a-half years, but in that time, it has left quite a mark. UMass SLAP has been heading the charge to fight for students’ and workers’ rights by rehiring fired student workers, helping other workers unionize and getting workers better contracts. Currently, we are celebrating winning the national SLAP chapter of the year award for the second year in a row. As a graduating senior, I decided to take this celebratory time to reflect back on what we have collectively accomplished these past five semesters.
Most recently, UMass SLAP helped the Resident Assistant (RA) Union win a large wage increase, back-pay and a requirement that employers give a written rationale when firing an RA. The RAs received their first check with the new wage increase on Thursday, March 28 and will begin receiving their back-pay during the next pay cycle. This victory not only helps RAs pay for their school and living expenses, but is also a testament to the power that students have when they stand together for their rights as both students and workers.
Another one of our more known accomplishments was our campaign to get the Peer Mentor positions back last year. Quite often I hear someone across the dining commons mention “there was something about peer mentors being fired but then got hired back, don’t really know what happened though.” To clarify, near the end of November 2011 peer mentors were informed that their contract would not be renewed for the 2012/13 school year as the position was being eliminated. By March 2012, the administration had reversed their decision and opted to continue the peer mentor program. They were kept because the Involve Us Campaign, headed largely by the UMass SLAP chapter, brought students together to demand that our administration reverse its position.
The day peer mentors received their job termination email back in November 2011, individual peer mentors reached out to UMass SLAP students to see how we could help them get their jobs back. We protested the decision to fire peer mentors at faculty senate in December, gathered over 5,000 petitions of support, emailed them to the UMass Board of Trustees during winter break and demonstrated in Whitmore during early spring 2012. In short, through much protesting of our administration, petition letters supporting peer mentors and meetings with our administration the peer mentor position was reinstated in March 2012.
In our early history, UMass SLAP worked with the American Federation of State City County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to unionize a group of disenfranchised dining workers in spring 2011. At the time, this group of dining workers could be fired by their employers without a grievance process and often did not receive any pay increases after working for many years. Because of their bad working conditions, these workers wanted support from UMass students by joining the AFSCME union.
Skip forward to the present and you will find UMass SLAP again reaching out to workers on campus to discuss their experiences at work. Within the last month, UMass SLAP began meeting with other student workers about their working conditions and how we can improve the situation for the many students that work dozens of hours, juggling multiple jobs to help pay the bills and stay in school. This group is called Student Workers Invested in Fair Treatment (SWIFT). UMass SLAP recognizes that, because of the exorbitant price of college attendance, most students are under a lot of pressure. We know that when students and workers work together we can make college more affordable, working conditions better and feel more empowered to improve our own and our fellow students’ and workers’ lives. We believe students should have the right to attend school without drowning in debt and workers should have a say in their workplace, their working conditions and their pay. If you are both a student and a worker, you should be able to both access higher education and have a say in your workplace.
I cannot articulate what a formative experience being part of UMass SLAP from its inception has been for me. Through this group, I have been able to create incredible change on this campus and have built the strongest friendships, laughed the hardest and had the most fun in my life. The energy, capacity and community of this group cannot be overestimated. It has been the utmost privilege for me to be part of this amazing group of people. Looking forward, I am incredibly excited to see UMass SLAP continue fighting for students’ and workers’ rights. Keep an eye on this crew.
Avery A. Füerst is a Collegian contributor. She can be reached at [email protected].
