In Northwestern’s quickly changing quarter system, two aspects of my life have remained constant: working at Norris as a slave to The Daily and the need to eat dinner each night. The combination of these factors means I have spent a lot of time with Maurice Nix and the staff in the food court. I’m in more frequent communication with them than with my professors or parents.
Taking this into account, I approach the living wage issue by first issuing a caveat: I feel personally invested in the happiness of the food service and custodial staff at NU. I think many students here have fostered similar bonds with staff members, so we are all left reconciling the desire for our University staff to be satisfied and the recognition that the NU administration needs to make tough economic decisions.
I cannot say in good conscience that NU should pick up a multimillion-dollar tab to supplement subcontractors’ wages. It’s not fair for me to speak for the student body and argue for increasing our tuition or detracting from funding for research or athletics or some other facet of NU life. Since our policy of preserving the endowment rescued us from recessionary catastrophe, I wouldn’t suggest changing the way we manage those funds. What I can say is that I applaud the living wage campaign for bringing an integral part of our community to the forefront of campus discussion.
As an answer to the call for a living wage, NU has offered custodial and food service contractors access to resources, including some financial advice from U.S. Bank, access to parking at Ryan Field, and library and shuttle privileges. Frankly, I’m incensed that a large portion of our community was previously denied those resources. Until now, food service and custodial workers were not allowed to ride the shuttle, making many of them the only members of the NU community who had no other choice but to walk to the El stop in bone-chilling Chicago weather. As Maurice described it to me, he and the other staff members felt that they were simply the “hired help.” This offer by the University, he said, is an important step in the right direction and is enormously appreciated. I’m a little embarrassed that it was not in place earlier. Regardless, I applaud NU for finally recognizing as members of our community the people who provide me with some of my most important necessities: food, coffee and limitless kindness.
Maurice said he and his colleagues will still want to negotiate a higher wage with subcontractors and NU. Through the resolution it has presented, the University has put staff members in a better position to do so. Rather than picking a magic number with little regard to its financial feasibility, we have instead given a formerly marginalized population the respect it deserves. More importantly, we have given it our attention and a platform to stand on in future wage negotiations.
Though we have not yet achieved the outcome living wage campaigners desire, we have created an environment that empowers staff members to ask for the changes they need as valued and vital members of the NU community.
Campus Editor Ali Elkin is a Medill sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected].
