With the support of student groups such as Alianza, Hillel and the Roosevelt Institute, members of the Northwestern Community Development Corps are working to ensure NU food service and janitorial employees earn a living wage.
A living wage is the hourly rate a full-time worker needs to be paid in order to support a family. This wage differs from a minimum wage, which determines the lowest amount a worker can legally be paid. The minimum wage for Illinois is $8 per hour.
According to the Social IMPACT Research Center, as wages and incomes have stagnated or declined in the last decade, about 1 million households in Illinois have fallen below the self-sufficiency standard. In light of this gap between the poverty level and the self-sufficiency standard, NU Community Development Corps members said they are determined to change NU staff wages.
SESP senior Conrad Hendrickson, the education committee co-chairman, said the NU living wage campaign was formed after members researched possible projects.
The groups have already met with contractors and union representatives to formulate an acceptable hourly wage of $13.23 with health care provided, and $14.67 without health care, for those living in Cook County. The janitorial staff at NU is currently paid $11 per hour, and food service employees are paid between $9 and $10 an hour, said Adam Yalowitz, co-chairman of NCDC’s education committee.
“Nobody who works at an institution like Northwestern … in the dining halls or at Norris, or who cleans the dorms, should have to be living in poverty,” the Weinberg junior said.
Maurice Nix, who works at Willie’s Food Court in Norris University Center, is the union steward for Norris employees. His job is to stop a problem before it gets to management, and mediate between management and employees. It is his third year working at Norris and his second as union steward. He said he spoke with Yalowitz about meeting with other members of the NU community.
“I work with a lot of people who, right now, are struggling financially,” he said. “A living wage would be appreciated. (This news) spreads like wildfire, and we know it’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have to sit down and get management and the University involved, and I’m excited about that.”
Other universities have passed living wage ordinances, including Harvard University and Georgetown University. Matthew Fischler, policy director for the Roosevelt Institute, said NU student groups are reaching out to these universities to develop solutions.
Fischler said he became interested in the project after talking with a community service officer who was a refugee from Sudan working to send money back to his brother in Kenya. The day Fischler spoke with him, the CSO had just gotten out of the hospital after major surgery.
“He had double kidney failure, and he couldn’t afford health insurance,” the Communication senior said. “Somehow he survived, and came there because if he didn’t come to work, he was going to lose his job.”
Fischler, along with other members of the campaign, sent University President Morton O. Schapiro an e-mail Wednesday requesting to schedule a meeting. Schapiro and Eugene Sunshine, senior vice president for business and finance, have agreed to meet with students during Reading Week, Yalowitz said.
“(Schapiro has) talked about the importance of having an inclusive community,” Yalowitz said. “We’re really excited to meet with Schapiro because we think it’s something he’ll be productive about, and we think this is an important issue.”
Campaign members are circulating petitions to students. In January, the NU Community Development Corps and the Roosevelt Institute will host a living wage community organizer training with Alex Lofton, Weinberg ’07, who worked on President Barack Obama’s campaign.
Natalie Furlett, coordinator of student community service in the Center for Student Involvement, said she thinks the campaign is on the right track.
“This is really a student initiative,” she said. “There’s no adversarial feeling.”
Hendrickson said he cannot predict what challenges the campaign will face nor a completion date, as it is still in its early phases. Still, he said the project is an incredible opportunity for the entire NU community.
“What this campaign represents is an opportunity to be leaders today, ” Hendrickson said.
