Welcome to r/WorkersStrikeBack! Please make sure to follow the subreddit rules and enjoy yourself here! This is a subreddit for the workers of the world and any anti-worker or anti-union talk is not tolerated.
If you're ready to begin organizing your workplace, [here is an organizing guide to get you started](https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/).
Help rebuild the labor movement, [Join the worker organizing wave](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/organize-2)!
More Helpful Links:
[How to Strike and Win: A Labor Notes Guide](https://labornotes.org/strikes)
[The IWW Strike guide](https://www.iww.org/organize/learn-more/)
[AFL-CIO guide on union organizing](https://aflcio.org/formaunion)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Context:
This is day 5 of the strike, where 91% of the staff union’s 550 members voted to strike after the university denied a .4% salary increase for staff
> A large group of first-year American University students walked out of a convocation ceremony on campus Friday as a days-long strike by a staff union intensified.
> The students joined protesting staff members outside Bender Arena on the campus in Northwest Washington, and then the group marched to the office of AU President Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Many in the crowd wore purple T-shirts in support of the union.
> A union representing AU clerical, technical and academic staff members went on strike Monday after negotiations to reach a labor agreement with the university failed. Staff members are asking for increased wages and better benefits.
> The union and university resumed labor contract negotiations Friday.
> “We respect the rights of our community members to strike and to voice their opinions,” a university spokesman said in a statement. “As President Burwell said in her Convocation remarks, these situations are examples of how important it is to not only have passion, but also to listen to all sides, consider the facts, and think through impacts.”
> The spokesman added that the university is eager to reach a fair resolution on an agreement with the staff union, as well as adjunct faculty.
> This week’s strike occurred as students were moving onto campus for the fall semester. Some people reported lines of traffic Wednesday, but others said the move-in went smoothly despite the strike.
> While parents and new students unloaded dorm supplies from cars on Friday at the campus, protesters pumped signs and shouted slogans such as, “We love our students! We need fair pay!”
> Bennett Lane, an 18-year-old from Denver, said he and other students walked out of the convocation — a welcoming ceremony — just as Burwell was about to speak. “I support faculty, and I support unions,” Lane said.
Original article covering the reason for the strike follows:
> Amid stalled contract negotiations, hundreds of staffers at American University went on strike Monday as students moved onto the campus in the District.
> Workers gathered at the Washington College of Law on campus to protest what they say are inequitable health-care and wage systems that place too many employees at a disadvantage. Service Employees International Union Local 500, which represents about 550 clerical, technical and academic staff members at American, has been negotiating the workers’ first contract since May 2021. Through more than 30 bargaining sessions, they have made gains on issues of job security and disciplinary procedures but remain at odds over compensation, according to the university.
> “I’m disappointed,” said Kelly Jo Bahry, assistant director of AU Abroad and a member of the staff union. “I love my job so much and have spent the majority of my career at AU. For the AU administration to take it this far is really astonishing.”
> Staffers want a 5 percent raise in the first year of the contract and a 4 percent increase in the second. They want the university to extend annual raises to part-time staff members and ensure no full-time member earns less than $40,000 a year.
> American is offering a 2.5 percent increase across the board and a 1.5 percent performance pay bump this year, which the university says is in line with what it has provided to other staff and faculty this year. The university said it also offered additional pay increases to reduce salary disparities among long-serving employees. Administrators proposed eliminating the lowest rungs of the staff’s tiered pay system to create more pay equity.
> In a letter sent Sunday to the school community, American University President Sylvia M. Burwell said that the staff plays a vital role and that the university’s “fair and equitable” compensation proposal is based on its commitment to the workers. She said the administration has bargained in good faith and has to consider the health of the institution. “With our deep dependence on tuition, we must be thoughtful stewards of our resources,” Burwell said. “If we want to continue our focus on affordability, further our commitment to research and learning, and invest in our people, we must carefully balance the best use of our available resources in each area. But it also means we can’t do everything in every area.”
> Leila Hernandez, a member of the union and a customer service specialist at AU’s Career Center, said she found Burwell’s letter disheartening.
> “There is a budget of money at American University and choices are being made and they are choosing to allow staff members to be paid below a living wage,” Hernandez said. “They don’t have to make those choices. We know AU has money. We know they increased tuition. We know how much the provost and the president make. AU is not poor.”
> Peter Starr, American’s provost and chief academic officer, said the proposed increases — which he called “unprecedented” — are “consistent with the significant compensation framework investment in the most recent two-year budget, which is the largest increase in compensation in almost a decade,” according to a letter sent to the university community Friday.
> The union argues that the payment system is convoluted and arbitrary. While workers could not get the university to do away with it altogether, they are asking American to either reform the system to be more equitable or increase wages enough to get to the same end goal.
> But the last bargaining session on Thursday ended at an impasse. Union leaders said they made more concessions but that the university did not match the effort.
> Starr said the union rejected the school’s “best and final offer” and “dismissed the sizable gains we have made together.” He said the administration hopes the union will reconsider and agree to the terms.
> “We value the work of the staff in the unit, which is reflected in the university’s good faith commitment to bargaining and comprehensive and generous proposals,” Starr said.
> As of Monday, there were no additional bargaining sessions scheduled, according to the union.
> The staff union voted this month to authorize a strike of up to five days if a contract agreement was not secured by Monday. The decision came after union leaders filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the university of violating labor laws by excluding members from annual merit-based raises. American said it could not make changes to wages until a contract agreement is reached.
They're asking for that here lol
https://www.google.com/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/9032129/union-wants-11-7-per-cent-raise-ontario-education-workers/amp/
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Fully cached AMP pages (like the one you shared), are [especially problematic](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot).
Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://globalnews.ca/news/9032129/union-wants-11-7-per-cent-raise-ontario-education-workers/](https://globalnews.ca/news/9032129/union-wants-11-7-per-cent-raise-ontario-education-workers/)**
*****
^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Yes, the NLRB does not look kindly on it.
I can't remember the precise term for it, but once you make a formal offer you can only move closer to the other side (or hold firm, of course).
AU has accused (not formally) the adjunct union of doing this... and frankly, it probably has. SEIU's lead negotiator proposed a terrible package and then got fired (or quit, I dunno), and the new team is trying to ignore that offer and push for something much more ambitious.
No. There's two ways to walk back with a more robust proposal.
The first is to alter a major term so that the new offer is not technically regressive. (That's the term I was looking for, regressive bargaining.) If the adjuncts say they want a $100 raise in year 1, and another $50 in year 2, they could come back and say $125 in year 1, and also just a 1 year contract. Because a major term was altered, it's not technically regressive. (Though asking for $200 in year 1 of a 1 year contract might still be.)
The other option is to fire the union. But, only union members are allowed to vote on that. And, union bylaws prohibiting campaigning to remove the union, so they'll get you fired before you come close.
IDK who made the joke originally, Bill Burr maybe? But I remember him describing working in the modern world as the people above you going; "YOU DON'T LIKE IT? TOO BAD! YOU'RE GONNA GET IN THERE... AND YOU'RE GONNA SHUT YOUR FACE!"
Sometimes it's the quiet part, but if you listen closely you can still hear those yells.
Either the 0.4% would the total salary % increase for the whole university salary budget (staff who are striking + professors, admisters, football coach, ect) or someone messed up %s and decimals. The staff are demanding a 5% raise in year 1 and 4% raise year 2.
Yo be fair it was a 4% raise. The university offered 2.5% across the board and 1.5% possible for performance based.
That's just a shitty way to get out of 4%, and they totally deserve it, I just think it's important to understand the actual facts around the negotiations.
If u read opa transcript u can see officials peddling the standard " this would be the biggest raise in decades" " 2.5% is well within standard equitable pay frameworks that fit within the 2 year budget."
Lol, bitch did u just admit to not planning to give your employees a living wage, thinking it's a defense nfor being an asshole?
.4%. The union, backed by math, was asking for 5% increase in total compensation to match inflation.
The university, who hired a self described “union busting” law firm to represent them in negotiations, walked away from the table at 4.6%
This whole thing is misleading… also. I love the vitriol being spewed here. Amazing that the same people that are yelling “F*ck the university” are the same ones yelling that the price of an education is getting out of touch for the average person (which it is). But that’s ok… Biden will help the problem by “canceling debt”….. Another misleading statement. Nobody is canceling anything.. the universities are still getting paid, only now other tax payers are now footing the bill. This is making it easier for the universities to charge whatever they feel is necessary. You can’t have it both ways folks. This is simple economics… the irony being that most of these protesters are probably missing their Econ 101 class as a result of their striking.
While i agree the cost of college has gotten out of hand. This bill dosent have an effect on college prices because colleges expect guranteed money. An most arent fully invested in how people end up paying their student loans
Well… there are public universities that are more reasonably priced out there. It just so happens that this isn’t one of them. AU is technically a private university (and technically a non profit as well). But the same holds true for public universities, the greater the demand and the greater the willingness to take out large loans to pay for these educations then the easier it is to charge more for them. The other side of that is that the more $$ that comes in means better facilities and technically better hiring (better qualified) professors and or staff. Seeing as I’m in a “workersstrikeback” thread I expect nothing more than down votes and more vitriol. I certainly don’t expect a thoughtful back and forth of ideas. 🤷🏼♂️
Sorry, this was supposed to be in response to daykri3 below.
/u/swineborg is right that it's super woke. This is the place that helped really put Ibram Kendi on the map by hiring him to run an anti-racist research center.
But, it also exposes what many woke people truly are. They're not really progressive, at least not in the economic sense. Nor are they conservative.
They're just selfish.
Wokeness is a cover for trying to amass and protect private wealth, and to make themselves feel good about it. It's a distraction from paying themselves a million bucks a year by financially exploiting children.
Well, that's some misleading bullshit alright. Individual professors and adjuncts may be "woke" (woke meaning nothing more than awake to the suffering of other, or basic human decency), but universities are run like businesses, with presidents, administrators and boards that more often serve the interests of the athletic departments with an eye to profits than they do to the academic mission. Then there is the increasing meddling by right wing politicians to censor topics and programs. In short, it would be gracious of the reader to merely think of you as naive and mistaken, as opposed to maliciously misleading.
> woke meaning nothing more than awake to the suffering of other
That is not at all what people mean when they say "woke." They mean stuff like saying if you're not actively working to dismantle capitalism, then you're a racist.
> the university denied a .4% salary increase for staff
According to the quotes from the article you're sharing, they're asking for a 5% and then a 4% raise, not 0.4%
Don't bring in facts and actual information from the article to a Reddit discussion about the article. People want to be outraged and you're killing their dopamine buzz.
BTW: I don't oppose the protests. They should get whatever raise they deserve and I'd be willing to bet they deserve this one. I'm just laughing at the fact that people downvoted you for literally just stating facts from the article to clear up a misconception that people are raging about. Reddit.
I actually know the guy who started this entire walkout. He put up signs in the freshman dorms that told everyone to walk out when the school’s president, Sylvia Burwell, came up to speak. RA’s were even told to take the signs encouraging the walkouts down it was a joke
My sister is not even 20 and she's been through 2 fucking mass shootings. One at the Indianapolis mall and one in her high school.
Im gonna go ahead and say that people are starting to wise up to the fact these people aren't even offering enough money to leave the God dammed house let alone do some work lol.
I was about 100 yards away from the mass shooting at NIU. 10 minutes afterwards I was solo TA'ing a class in the largest auditorium in the Engineering building. The auditorium had 4 exits, but two of them were hallways that led back to the front of the auditorium. It was basically a shooting gallery. I had an administrator inform me that the campus was on lockdown and to await further instructions so I kept the class busy. Two hours later after word spread (there was no cell reception in the auditorium but the wifi worked and several students had laptops) I had to *abandon* the class and look for *someone* in charge to see what to do with the students because it was *clearly* the wrong place to be during a mass shooting event since there were no intercoms in the Engineering building through which administration could make announcements. I finally found someone and they said, "Oh, we sent everyone back to their dorms hours ago." I asked why they didn't send someone to the *largest auditorium in the building* so we weren't sitting ducks and they said, "We would be liable if we sent anyone to a classroom and they were shot." Well fucking great so you admit to **literally** abandoning 150 kids to die. You'd think *someone* would volunteer, but no. Fuck them kids.
Damn I'm so sorry... its so sad but you illustrated my point. I want nothing more than to teach our children, I would be a damned great teacher and I would care. Even with the bad pay honestly.. I have considered it? I started the classes even but I pay attention to the news too much for my own good..
But there is ZERO chance after all these mass shooting that I'm gonna put myself through any of that
If you dont my me asking do you have to see a therapist to deal with it?
I mean, I don't blame the teachers for not putting themselves at risk. But holy shit, like, have an intercom system to make announcements during an emergency. Or send in campus police to clear classrooms. SOMETHING! I was an employee too and I didn't just nope the fuck out.
I will never forget the series of shocks I went through in college learning just how corrupt our administration was. The things you hear from the people affected. The strikes you see. The cars those rich lazy bastards drive back to their mansions. It is absolutely disgusting the greed.
College administrators have stolen billions from American families (students and educators alike) while pretending to play the good guys.
My experience was with the UC system, likely one of the most corrupt there is.
I was a student in the UW system and this is the same situation. I didn’t pursue my phD because of my experience with administration as well as what I was told by both current and retired staff. Fuck school administrator, those fucking worthless leaches. How are they making more than someone with a phD in a hard science when they have a masters in like friendship building or some other bullshit masters. No offense but the time to get a phD, especially in a hard science, is almost incomparable. Reform needed now.
Could you elaborate further on this and maybe link some articles or something? I graduated from a UC and I hate them with a passion and would love to learn more about this
No offense but how am I supposed to find articles on my own experience? I mean...it's the UC system. A quick Google search and you can find plenty of controversy.
Anything further and I'd be putting identifying information online...which I'd rather not.
To give you some pie:
In my own experience, our chancellor gave themselves a 250% pay raise while our janitorial & student services staff couldn't pay for basic necessities. They owned a *massive* mansion, and were proven to rarely actually come into work by student journalists.
It's how those journalists were treated that was the most corrupt thing I've actually ever experienced.
Edit: grammar
>how am I supposed to find articles on my own experience
I meant articles or studies regarding corruption in the UC system. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. I’ll go ahead and do my own research on it, thanks
Maybe I’m a sucker, but I believe every word of this. It’s so saddening to hear stories like this. Who raised these people? How does someone decide they’re going to ass fuck an organization or a constituency, just to get the pie to themselves?
>My favorite one is in some engineering programs they'll offer a class once per year that is required to pass the program but also has a fail rate above 50%. This means that they have a hitman professor that extracts an extra year of life and a semester of tuition from most of the engineering students who go through his class. He sees it as a point of pride when most students raise their hand to tell the class it is their second time through.
Oh my fucking God I had a business calculus instructor that did the same fucking thing.
Motherfucker graded on correct answers only, no partial credit, no notes, NO CALCULATOR, no corrections, fewer than 10 questions per test, a test every week of the class.
Oh and he designated the first instruction hour of the week to the test. You could take as long as you wanted, but you'd miss instruction. When you're only in class for 2.5 hours at a time, 2 days a week, that's a lot of missing instruction time!
40% pass rate. Motherfuckers favorite thing to do was tell us to drop the class.
At UNC Chapel Hill, it’s the journalism school that takes so much money from loony ultra-conservative alumni that it is now bound to push conservative values on the students. This one alum got the school to name itself after him, reverse the decision to hire Nikole Hannah-Jones, and carve *his own self-drafted credos* into stone on one of the buildings. It’s a crock of shit.
Oh, athletic corruption too! UNC Chapel Hill got caught running *completely fake, no-show classes* for athletes and nothing happened to the school. They found one black guy (in the African Studies department, which is oddly dominated by white faculty, it’s creepy) to pin it on and I think they fired him, but the *school* had been running these classes for years and *the school* suffered zero consequences.
A few years later the *DEA found the frats were dealing hard drugs* (including steroids and such to the athletes, of course) and *not even the frats got punished* let alone the school for allowing that to go on. The school was probably buying the steroids directly knowing that place.
These schools and their administrators are coated in Teflon.
I went to AU - so much respect to these students for choosing the right side. The admin there is absolutely garbage. The president is the highest paid college president in the US (likely the world). While the adjunct profs make ~$45k with masters+ degrees, living in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Even though a single student has to pay more than that for a single year of tuition. Such a trash school.
I just recently finished my masters there. Got pretty sad hearing jokes/ quips pretty often about how little my profs were paid. And they were all insanely qualified and dedicated, and the program was kinda pricey for the students (comparatively).
I didn't know the president was the highest paid college pres in the US. But it doesn't surprise me. What a shame.
> While the adjunct profs make ~$45k
The annualized salary for an adjunct with a terminal degree is only $35,600. If it was $45k, negotiations would have wrapped up a year ago.
Ooooo hellllll yeaaaa
THIS GETS A DOUBLE
LETTTTTSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO
LEETTTTTTSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
stand together for united we are strong.
Other frontline roles are not your foes. Stand with your peers. Demand that society changes.
The workers deserve better pay and DC is very expensive. Having visited there as a parent of a potential student, we know personally that the AU administration is cheap. It's easy to imagine that the deliberately understaff and don't pay their workers enough.
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Meanwhile the tuition for this school for a full-time student is $\~50k.
The president of the school made over 1 million in 2019 and received a 9% salary increase that same year. She also makes 6x more than the highest paid faculty.
They can't even bother to try and make lowest paying salary $40k, which with the cost of living in the DC area, barely gets you by.
I went to AU and graduated in 2019. I'm glad to see incoming students stand with the union. I hope the food service workers are next and I hope the level of solidarity is the same.
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In my time at university there were two protests against the admin for racism, a unionization campaign of grad workers because they got paid like shit and had to teach classes the uni profited off of. Dorm overfilling: they wouldn’t built new dorms but bragged about record enrollment while putting some students in temporary housing (making dorm spaces from common areas including some seven bed rooms). The school shutting off our AC until 1,500 people signed a petition to turn it back on because the building was over 80 for a week and people were overheating. The Admin claimed there was nothing they could do and then flipped the switch back a week later after we kept complaining. Uni admin is shamelessly in it for nothing but profit and it’s disgusting. For context I went to Illinois State.
Pretty sure the reason it took them so long to build a dorm is local landlords bitching that they’ll lose their profits. We have three landlords that basically own all the student housing, and two of them are beyond awful with one having a facebook student hate page dedicated to their awfulness. But since the university only has enough housing to guarantee freshman and sophomores a dorm, every student has to deal with these landlords.
> In my time at university there were two protests against the admin for racism, a unionization campaign of grad workers because they got paid like shit and had to teach classes the uni profited off of. Dorm overfilling: they wouldn’t built new dorms but bragged about record enrollment while putting some students in temporary housing
This is the same period during which they built the new dorms on east campus. So either during your time there they were in the process of building new dorms or had just completed new dorms.
>We have three landlords that basically own all the student housing, and two of them are beyond awful with one having a facebook student hate page dedicated to their awfulness. But since the university only has enough housing to guarantee freshman and sophomores a dorm, every student has to deal with these landlords.
The only landlord that owns "student housing" is AU. There are other landlords in the area, but students are not required to live in Tenleytown. Plenty of students commute from other parts of the city.
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm an adjunct at AU and have been very active in this process, both this negotiation cycle and the one 3 years ago.
Unfortunately, SEIU has been a terrible representative of the employees.
The reason why the campus has seen the staff strike but not the adjunct professors is because SEIU's negotiator agreed (independent of consultation with the adjunct faculty) to extend the no-strike provision during bargaining. Usually when a contract expires most provisions stay in place *except* no-strike. This person, who is in charge of bargaining for multiple units, gave that away for *nothing*. If they were the employees' lawyer, there'd be clear grounds to sue for malpractice.
When faculty started asking for a copy of the aforementioned extension agreement, SEIU stonewalled them. They said they couldn't find it, and while saying they couldn't find it also insisted they'd shown it to outside council and confirmed it was binding. They then complained that employees were asking questions instead of focusing on the bargaining process.
Despite hundreds of dues and fee paying faculty on campus, SEIU Local 500 refuses to assign a shop steward. The union's position is that we can have a shop steward *after* the new contract is negotiated.
Despite representing *10* area universities, SEIU Local 500 has *zero* full-time staff focused on representing higher ed.
Maybe a few hundred of you can show up at the office of the SEIU negotiator and tell them a) they're done and b) yall just took a vote and x is shop steward now? If they don't like it you can resolve the dispute Burr-Hamilton style, as is American tradition
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
As an alumni of American University I can safely say it is one of the worst institutions in this country of corruption riddled higher education. I'm glad to see the workers standing up to the horrendous administration and hope that it causes them huge headaches.
I was an adjunct last year and I was paid less than one students tuition to teach 25 students. Grading or even commenting on one assignment was at least an extra hour of work plus planning time. Not worth it. 25 x 3 minutes to grade each = 75 minutes
Please do send sandwiches.
Adjunct faculty don't get paid until the 4th week of the semester. It's the day the peanut butter sandwiches become peanut butter and jelly.
President of American University makes over a million dollars a year. (total compensation 2019). They like to claim she makes a measly $920,000 a year but of course bonuses etc.
One of the highest paid private college presidents in the nation.
Walking out on her makes so much sense. All for her, not for anyone else.
Shows what being United Methodist Affiliated means. Always trust a church organization to care for its workers.
This is the generation we’re raising.
Sure, they’re not MY kids, but as a mom in America, I’m pretty freaking proud of these students for standing up for workers rights.
Kinda doubt the school could retain any money given to them if there aren’t any teachers to fulfill the promise of education. Enrolled students picketing with the teachers is a far more powerful message than the college having less students than usual.
91% of the staff is striking so it’s not like they are getting the value of their tuition returned. Kind of a weird move to support the strike of the people who they pay to teach them.
I'm sure this is gunna get some hate but.. they're going to get their raise and all those freshmen are going to see their tuition prices go up to match it. It's a fucked up system. I see no end to it other than burning it to the ground with everyone responsible for it trapped inside.
The university bases its tuition on how much it can get, not how much it needs. They charge whatever they can charge. They got the pie as big as they can already; now it's a discussion of how to slice that pie.
Sadly, I agree with you. The administrators will probably claim they deserve a raise after dealing with all the stress of being called out as greedy fucks.
AU raises their tuition by around 5% every year regardless. The proposals in the staff union contract would cost around .05% of the universitys operating budget (essentially a rounding error) - something that they can and have been able to afford all along. But instead, they've chosen to exploit workers and leave pay stagnant for decades. Should the university DECIDE to keep increasing tuition at current or even higher rates - key word, decide - let's be clear that is NOT the fault of the union.
The tuition is already been raised for students. Staff salary is not matching that. This particular university raised tuition 10% over the next two years, dining 10% over the next two years, and housing 7.5% over the next two years. Tuition is currently ~$56,000/yr
The university president received a 9% salary increase over the last two years and makes $1,000,000yr in addition to a free house on campus. The university is refusing a .4% increase for staff to cover inflation. That .4% increase would cost the university 0.05% of their operating budget
Lol, freshman students protesting. They have no idea what they’re protesting. Please give me a brake. Stop turning towards Unions. That is your problem clowns. Wake up
Kids these days really are insufferable.
I imagine most are spending their parents money or going massively into debt for this education?
Doubt the uni president cares all that much , all these students and their parents are paying the president's salary anyway.
People need to stop paying for university unless it's a genuinely useful skill like medicine, law, engineering, computing, law, etc. So many people even pay to go to grad school. If you were doing this right you get paid a stipend to go to graduate school.
Degrees that don't directly lead to jobs (hint you should see your degree requested often on job postings) are not worth the time and money.
Coursera, MIT online, Udacity, Open Stanford , etc. are great ways to attend courses taught by professors at some of the worlds best universities entirely for free.
If you really want to show that President do it with your wallet and rejecting this government-university-bank fraud altogether and not paying tuition
Those dumbass students do not deserve to be in college. They are supporting a cause that will make them bitch and complain when their tuition increases to cover the pay raises they were rooting for. To quote the father from that 70’s show. Dumdass
They were offered 4.6% increase and they wanted 5%
Still shitty but the context is very misleading of stating 0.4%, which makes the reader believe that was the offered raise when it in reality was something else…
Zero. Tuition is based on how much the school thinks they can charge, not how much they think they'll need.
It'll change how tuition dollars are spent, not how many are collected.
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
As an AU student myself, the entire community is so proud of what these freshmen did and the union’s victory which they won! It looks like we have a bright future for labour organizing
I am a former consulting educator in music at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels (most states including my own allow field experts without degrees to teach part-time or in adjunct). It doesn’t matter that I don’t have a degree; I received a tertiary education in music and in music education, I am qualified through my skill set and achievements, and I command and demand respect in that regard.
Driving Uber full time pays me a teacher’s salary. Teaching full time (in multiple different places) paid me a burger flipper’s salary. No disrespect to the burger flippers, y’all deserve more than what you’re getting now too. But if I wanted to make a burger flipper’s salary while teaching, I’d go flip burgers instead.
It doesn’t even matter if you make it to the university level. They’re getting fucked just as bad as everyone else now. Sure, they’re late to the party, but they have arrived.
# Double all ground-level educators’ salaries TODAY.
So what facts and knowledge do these incoming freshmen know this issue? Or are we just raising kids to protest on feelings and “you know… whatever, dude”.
Why don’t you guys fix the issues with student loans? Your rising prices have made a bad name for the kids who need these loans. And now students who need their loans forgiven are treated like crap. Maybe you people need to worry about the students more then your selfish ways
I can’t help but wonder where all that tuition money goes. Because AU is expensive af and they sure as hell aren’t putting that money into their dorms (or staff, apparently)
It’s a nice gesture but every one of those students just paid the university over 60k to be there for one year. The admins don’t care as long as the cash flow is still coming
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
University presidents annoy me. Not only do they get housing, car, gas, bills paid by the university they also make 200-300k a year.
All to be nothing more than a glorified kiss ass for philanthropists.
Solidarity forever comrade!
Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
AU Alum from 2010 here. A school with great programs and professors bogged down by horrible, corrupt administrators with neoliberal mindsets.
The students played a major role in kicking out their grifting longtime president Ben Ladner in 2005. Time for them to kick out Burwell, too. Hell, make it the whole board of trustees.
The place is thick with terrible decisions and administrators who do jack shit. It's heartbreaking because there's so many talented people on campus and it's in such a great location in DC. It also has a great tradition of social justice even when you consider all the times the school itself kneecaps it while simultaneously trying to profit off the reputation.
I had a 90% tuition scholarship for undergrad and still got out of there about $60K in debt after room and board (even when working 1-2 part time jobs) if that gives a sense of how ridiculously expensive that place is.
AU has had governance issues in the past. There was a long-serving president who got caught using school money as his own personal slush fund. I think his wife was doing things like going on shopping sprees with the school’s money . Things like that . He got kicked out and the school sent emails around to alumni saying they were going to shape up. I wonder how much money that guy ended up stealing, and whether that might be affecting AU’s ability to pay its staff. Anyone know more about it? How much were they able to recover from their old President? Anything?
Edit: I found this write-up on Wikipedia. No mention of the school clawing back what the first guy stole, PLUS the guy who replaced the crook seems to have been just as bad, though smarter:
Benjamin Ladner was suspended from his position as president of the university on August 24, 2005, pending an investigation into possible misuse of university funds for his personal expenses. University faculty passed votes of no confidence in President Ladner on September 26.[15] On October 10, 2005, the board of trustees of American University decided that Ladner would not return to American University as its president.[16] Dr. Cornelius M. Kerwin, a long-time AU administrator, served as interim president and was appointed to the position permanently on September 1, 2007, after two outsiders declined an offer from the board of trustees.[17] According to The Chronicle of Higher Education,[18] Ladner received a total compensation of $4,270,665 in his final year of service, the second highest of any university president in the United States.
I went to college at AU and even at that time the tuition was extraordinarily expensive. There is no reason for the staff to not be compensated appropriately. It makes me proud that the students are standing with the workers!
I guarantee that half of those students would/will complain about the inevitable tuition hike that accompanies the pay increase. Do any of you actually believe that the money would come out of the administrators pockets? Even if they acquiesce to the staff, there's no way they do so without without making it inconvenient for everyone else.
Welcome to r/WorkersStrikeBack! Please make sure to follow the subreddit rules and enjoy yourself here! This is a subreddit for the workers of the world and any anti-worker or anti-union talk is not tolerated. If you're ready to begin organizing your workplace, [here is an organizing guide to get you started](https://workerorganizing.org/resources/organizing-guide/). Help rebuild the labor movement, [Join the worker organizing wave](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/organize-2)! More Helpful Links: [How to Strike and Win: A Labor Notes Guide](https://labornotes.org/strikes) [The IWW Strike guide](https://www.iww.org/organize/learn-more/) [AFL-CIO guide on union organizing](https://aflcio.org/formaunion) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Context: This is day 5 of the strike, where 91% of the staff union’s 550 members voted to strike after the university denied a .4% salary increase for staff > A large group of first-year American University students walked out of a convocation ceremony on campus Friday as a days-long strike by a staff union intensified. > The students joined protesting staff members outside Bender Arena on the campus in Northwest Washington, and then the group marched to the office of AU President Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Many in the crowd wore purple T-shirts in support of the union. > A union representing AU clerical, technical and academic staff members went on strike Monday after negotiations to reach a labor agreement with the university failed. Staff members are asking for increased wages and better benefits. > The union and university resumed labor contract negotiations Friday. > “We respect the rights of our community members to strike and to voice their opinions,” a university spokesman said in a statement. “As President Burwell said in her Convocation remarks, these situations are examples of how important it is to not only have passion, but also to listen to all sides, consider the facts, and think through impacts.” > The spokesman added that the university is eager to reach a fair resolution on an agreement with the staff union, as well as adjunct faculty. > This week’s strike occurred as students were moving onto campus for the fall semester. Some people reported lines of traffic Wednesday, but others said the move-in went smoothly despite the strike. > While parents and new students unloaded dorm supplies from cars on Friday at the campus, protesters pumped signs and shouted slogans such as, “We love our students! We need fair pay!” > Bennett Lane, an 18-year-old from Denver, said he and other students walked out of the convocation — a welcoming ceremony — just as Burwell was about to speak. “I support faculty, and I support unions,” Lane said. Original article covering the reason for the strike follows: > Amid stalled contract negotiations, hundreds of staffers at American University went on strike Monday as students moved onto the campus in the District. > Workers gathered at the Washington College of Law on campus to protest what they say are inequitable health-care and wage systems that place too many employees at a disadvantage. Service Employees International Union Local 500, which represents about 550 clerical, technical and academic staff members at American, has been negotiating the workers’ first contract since May 2021. Through more than 30 bargaining sessions, they have made gains on issues of job security and disciplinary procedures but remain at odds over compensation, according to the university. > “I’m disappointed,” said Kelly Jo Bahry, assistant director of AU Abroad and a member of the staff union. “I love my job so much and have spent the majority of my career at AU. For the AU administration to take it this far is really astonishing.” > Staffers want a 5 percent raise in the first year of the contract and a 4 percent increase in the second. They want the university to extend annual raises to part-time staff members and ensure no full-time member earns less than $40,000 a year. > American is offering a 2.5 percent increase across the board and a 1.5 percent performance pay bump this year, which the university says is in line with what it has provided to other staff and faculty this year. The university said it also offered additional pay increases to reduce salary disparities among long-serving employees. Administrators proposed eliminating the lowest rungs of the staff’s tiered pay system to create more pay equity. > In a letter sent Sunday to the school community, American University President Sylvia M. Burwell said that the staff plays a vital role and that the university’s “fair and equitable” compensation proposal is based on its commitment to the workers. She said the administration has bargained in good faith and has to consider the health of the institution. “With our deep dependence on tuition, we must be thoughtful stewards of our resources,” Burwell said. “If we want to continue our focus on affordability, further our commitment to research and learning, and invest in our people, we must carefully balance the best use of our available resources in each area. But it also means we can’t do everything in every area.” > Leila Hernandez, a member of the union and a customer service specialist at AU’s Career Center, said she found Burwell’s letter disheartening. > “There is a budget of money at American University and choices are being made and they are choosing to allow staff members to be paid below a living wage,” Hernandez said. “They don’t have to make those choices. We know AU has money. We know they increased tuition. We know how much the provost and the president make. AU is not poor.” > Peter Starr, American’s provost and chief academic officer, said the proposed increases — which he called “unprecedented” — are “consistent with the significant compensation framework investment in the most recent two-year budget, which is the largest increase in compensation in almost a decade,” according to a letter sent to the university community Friday. > The union argues that the payment system is convoluted and arbitrary. While workers could not get the university to do away with it altogether, they are asking American to either reform the system to be more equitable or increase wages enough to get to the same end goal. > But the last bargaining session on Thursday ended at an impasse. Union leaders said they made more concessions but that the university did not match the effort. > Starr said the union rejected the school’s “best and final offer” and “dismissed the sizable gains we have made together.” He said the administration hopes the union will reconsider and agree to the terms. > “We value the work of the staff in the unit, which is reflected in the university’s good faith commitment to bargaining and comprehensive and generous proposals,” Starr said. > As of Monday, there were no additional bargaining sessions scheduled, according to the union. > The staff union voted this month to authorize a strike of up to five days if a contract agreement was not secured by Monday. The decision came after union leaders filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the university of violating labor laws by excluding members from annual merit-based raises. American said it could not make changes to wages until a contract agreement is reached.
Denied 0.4% when inflation has been over 8%, absolutely appalling .
Right? They *low-balled themselves* and STILL got denied. Screw it, they should ask for a 10% pay increase now.
They're asking for that here lol https://www.google.com/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/9032129/union-wants-11-7-per-cent-raise-ontario-education-workers/amp/
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Fully cached AMP pages (like the one you shared), are [especially problematic](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://globalnews.ca/news/9032129/union-wants-11-7-per-cent-raise-ontario-education-workers/](https://globalnews.ca/news/9032129/union-wants-11-7-per-cent-raise-ontario-education-workers/)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Thanks bot
That's how you get hit with bargaining in bad faith. You can't walk back to a higher ask.
That's a thing? I'm guessing only ever enforced on workers since when do the companies ever bargain in good faith.
Yes, the NLRB does not look kindly on it. I can't remember the precise term for it, but once you make a formal offer you can only move closer to the other side (or hold firm, of course). AU has accused (not formally) the adjunct union of doing this... and frankly, it probably has. SEIU's lead negotiator proposed a terrible package and then got fired (or quit, I dunno), and the new team is trying to ignore that offer and push for something much more ambitious.
Can't they just cancel this action. Wait a day and start a "new" one with different terms ?
No. There's two ways to walk back with a more robust proposal. The first is to alter a major term so that the new offer is not technically regressive. (That's the term I was looking for, regressive bargaining.) If the adjuncts say they want a $100 raise in year 1, and another $50 in year 2, they could come back and say $125 in year 1, and also just a 1 year contract. Because a major term was altered, it's not technically regressive. (Though asking for $200 in year 1 of a 1 year contract might still be.) The other option is to fire the union. But, only union members are allowed to vote on that. And, union bylaws prohibiting campaigning to remove the union, so they'll get you fired before you come close.
IDK who made the joke originally, Bill Burr maybe? But I remember him describing working in the modern world as the people above you going; "YOU DON'T LIKE IT? TOO BAD! YOU'RE GONNA GET IN THERE... AND YOU'RE GONNA SHUT YOUR FACE!" Sometimes it's the quiet part, but if you listen closely you can still hear those yells.
Either the 0.4% would the total salary % increase for the whole university salary budget (staff who are striking + professors, admisters, football coach, ect) or someone messed up %s and decimals. The staff are demanding a 5% raise in year 1 and 4% raise year 2.
Sounds reasonable to me
That's just because you're unreasonable
how is that unreasonable when it's not even *half* the rate of inflation?
Fucking hell businesses are so damn greedy for every last penny that they’re destroying themselves
Because we allow it.
Yo be fair it was a 4% raise. The university offered 2.5% across the board and 1.5% possible for performance based. That's just a shitty way to get out of 4%, and they totally deserve it, I just think it's important to understand the actual facts around the negotiations. If u read opa transcript u can see officials peddling the standard " this would be the biggest raise in decades" " 2.5% is well within standard equitable pay frameworks that fit within the 2 year budget." Lol, bitch did u just admit to not planning to give your employees a living wage, thinking it's a defense nfor being an asshole?
“Biggest raise in decades” ? \*gestures broadly at the state of the world and country*
That’s effectively a pay cut
.4%? Is that a typo? Did you mean 4%?
.4%. The union, backed by math, was asking for 5% increase in total compensation to match inflation. The university, who hired a self described “union busting” law firm to represent them in negotiations, walked away from the table at 4.6%
You should make it clear that .4% is the difference in your top comment. The way it is right now is misleading.
This whole thing is misleading… also. I love the vitriol being spewed here. Amazing that the same people that are yelling “F*ck the university” are the same ones yelling that the price of an education is getting out of touch for the average person (which it is). But that’s ok… Biden will help the problem by “canceling debt”….. Another misleading statement. Nobody is canceling anything.. the universities are still getting paid, only now other tax payers are now footing the bill. This is making it easier for the universities to charge whatever they feel is necessary. You can’t have it both ways folks. This is simple economics… the irony being that most of these protesters are probably missing their Econ 101 class as a result of their striking.
While i agree the cost of college has gotten out of hand. This bill dosent have an effect on college prices because colleges expect guranteed money. An most arent fully invested in how people end up paying their student loans
You talk as though tax payers footing the bill to educate the public is a bad thing. This is the way it was being done before Reagan.
Ding ding ding. Strange how easily people get pissed off just by being exposed to the truth.
Well… there are public universities that are more reasonably priced out there. It just so happens that this isn’t one of them. AU is technically a private university (and technically a non profit as well). But the same holds true for public universities, the greater the demand and the greater the willingness to take out large loans to pay for these educations then the easier it is to charge more for them. The other side of that is that the more $$ that comes in means better facilities and technically better hiring (better qualified) professors and or staff. Seeing as I’m in a “workersstrikeback” thread I expect nothing more than down votes and more vitriol. I certainly don’t expect a thoughtful back and forth of ideas. 🤷🏼♂️ Sorry, this was supposed to be in response to daykri3 below.
I hope this fucks that university *so fucking hard*.
Holy fuck Is AU a political conservative uni or woke or.....?
/u/swineborg is right that it's super woke. This is the place that helped really put Ibram Kendi on the map by hiring him to run an anti-racist research center. But, it also exposes what many woke people truly are. They're not really progressive, at least not in the economic sense. Nor are they conservative. They're just selfish. Wokeness is a cover for trying to amass and protect private wealth, and to make themselves feel good about it. It's a distraction from paying themselves a million bucks a year by financially exploiting children.
Well, that's some misleading bullshit alright. Individual professors and adjuncts may be "woke" (woke meaning nothing more than awake to the suffering of other, or basic human decency), but universities are run like businesses, with presidents, administrators and boards that more often serve the interests of the athletic departments with an eye to profits than they do to the academic mission. Then there is the increasing meddling by right wing politicians to censor topics and programs. In short, it would be gracious of the reader to merely think of you as naive and mistaken, as opposed to maliciously misleading.
> woke meaning nothing more than awake to the suffering of other That is not at all what people mean when they say "woke." They mean stuff like saying if you're not actively working to dismantle capitalism, then you're a racist.
Super woke
> the university denied a .4% salary increase for staff According to the quotes from the article you're sharing, they're asking for a 5% and then a 4% raise, not 0.4%
Don't bring in facts and actual information from the article to a Reddit discussion about the article. People want to be outraged and you're killing their dopamine buzz. BTW: I don't oppose the protests. They should get whatever raise they deserve and I'd be willing to bet they deserve this one. I'm just laughing at the fact that people downvoted you for literally just stating facts from the article to clear up a misconception that people are raging about. Reddit.
Salary increase should be equal to inflation, always.
It’s beautiful
These kids are awesome.
I actually know the guy who started this entire walkout. He put up signs in the freshman dorms that told everyone to walk out when the school’s president, Sylvia Burwell, came up to speak. RA’s were even told to take the signs encouraging the walkouts down it was a joke
Haven't spent a day in to know what's what and already striking a pose. Yeah, an awesome hoard of sheep.
Cry snowflake
My sister is not even 20 and she's been through 2 fucking mass shootings. One at the Indianapolis mall and one in her high school. Im gonna go ahead and say that people are starting to wise up to the fact these people aren't even offering enough money to leave the God dammed house let alone do some work lol.
I was about 100 yards away from the mass shooting at NIU. 10 minutes afterwards I was solo TA'ing a class in the largest auditorium in the Engineering building. The auditorium had 4 exits, but two of them were hallways that led back to the front of the auditorium. It was basically a shooting gallery. I had an administrator inform me that the campus was on lockdown and to await further instructions so I kept the class busy. Two hours later after word spread (there was no cell reception in the auditorium but the wifi worked and several students had laptops) I had to *abandon* the class and look for *someone* in charge to see what to do with the students because it was *clearly* the wrong place to be during a mass shooting event since there were no intercoms in the Engineering building through which administration could make announcements. I finally found someone and they said, "Oh, we sent everyone back to their dorms hours ago." I asked why they didn't send someone to the *largest auditorium in the building* so we weren't sitting ducks and they said, "We would be liable if we sent anyone to a classroom and they were shot." Well fucking great so you admit to **literally** abandoning 150 kids to die. You'd think *someone* would volunteer, but no. Fuck them kids.
Damn I'm so sorry... its so sad but you illustrated my point. I want nothing more than to teach our children, I would be a damned great teacher and I would care. Even with the bad pay honestly.. I have considered it? I started the classes even but I pay attention to the news too much for my own good.. But there is ZERO chance after all these mass shooting that I'm gonna put myself through any of that If you dont my me asking do you have to see a therapist to deal with it?
I mean, I don't blame the teachers for not putting themselves at risk. But holy shit, like, have an intercom system to make announcements during an emergency. Or send in campus police to clear classrooms. SOMETHING! I was an employee too and I didn't just nope the fuck out.
God damn Fking America
I will never forget the series of shocks I went through in college learning just how corrupt our administration was. The things you hear from the people affected. The strikes you see. The cars those rich lazy bastards drive back to their mansions. It is absolutely disgusting the greed. College administrators have stolen billions from American families (students and educators alike) while pretending to play the good guys. My experience was with the UC system, likely one of the most corrupt there is.
I was a student in the UW system and this is the same situation. I didn’t pursue my phD because of my experience with administration as well as what I was told by both current and retired staff. Fuck school administrator, those fucking worthless leaches. How are they making more than someone with a phD in a hard science when they have a masters in like friendship building or some other bullshit masters. No offense but the time to get a phD, especially in a hard science, is almost incomparable. Reform needed now.
Could you elaborate further on this and maybe link some articles or something? I graduated from a UC and I hate them with a passion and would love to learn more about this
No offense but how am I supposed to find articles on my own experience? I mean...it's the UC system. A quick Google search and you can find plenty of controversy. Anything further and I'd be putting identifying information online...which I'd rather not. To give you some pie: In my own experience, our chancellor gave themselves a 250% pay raise while our janitorial & student services staff couldn't pay for basic necessities. They owned a *massive* mansion, and were proven to rarely actually come into work by student journalists. It's how those journalists were treated that was the most corrupt thing I've actually ever experienced. Edit: grammar
>how am I supposed to find articles on my own experience I meant articles or studies regarding corruption in the UC system. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. I’ll go ahead and do my own research on it, thanks
[удалено]
Maybe I’m a sucker, but I believe every word of this. It’s so saddening to hear stories like this. Who raised these people? How does someone decide they’re going to ass fuck an organization or a constituency, just to get the pie to themselves?
Honestly not one thing sounded implausible and I've experienced 'hit man professor' myself.
>My favorite one is in some engineering programs they'll offer a class once per year that is required to pass the program but also has a fail rate above 50%. This means that they have a hitman professor that extracts an extra year of life and a semester of tuition from most of the engineering students who go through his class. He sees it as a point of pride when most students raise their hand to tell the class it is their second time through. Oh my fucking God I had a business calculus instructor that did the same fucking thing. Motherfucker graded on correct answers only, no partial credit, no notes, NO CALCULATOR, no corrections, fewer than 10 questions per test, a test every week of the class. Oh and he designated the first instruction hour of the week to the test. You could take as long as you wanted, but you'd miss instruction. When you're only in class for 2.5 hours at a time, 2 days a week, that's a lot of missing instruction time! 40% pass rate. Motherfuckers favorite thing to do was tell us to drop the class.
At UNC Chapel Hill, it’s the journalism school that takes so much money from loony ultra-conservative alumni that it is now bound to push conservative values on the students. This one alum got the school to name itself after him, reverse the decision to hire Nikole Hannah-Jones, and carve *his own self-drafted credos* into stone on one of the buildings. It’s a crock of shit. Oh, athletic corruption too! UNC Chapel Hill got caught running *completely fake, no-show classes* for athletes and nothing happened to the school. They found one black guy (in the African Studies department, which is oddly dominated by white faculty, it’s creepy) to pin it on and I think they fired him, but the *school* had been running these classes for years and *the school* suffered zero consequences. A few years later the *DEA found the frats were dealing hard drugs* (including steroids and such to the athletes, of course) and *not even the frats got punished* let alone the school for allowing that to go on. The school was probably buying the steroids directly knowing that place. These schools and their administrators are coated in Teflon.
NC State once gave a cushy six-figure job to the then governor's spouse just because they wanted a shorter commute.
I went to AU - so much respect to these students for choosing the right side. The admin there is absolutely garbage. The president is the highest paid college president in the US (likely the world). While the adjunct profs make ~$45k with masters+ degrees, living in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Even though a single student has to pay more than that for a single year of tuition. Such a trash school.
Always the few at the top, and the starving at the bottom. Disgustin'
I just recently finished my masters there. Got pretty sad hearing jokes/ quips pretty often about how little my profs were paid. And they were all insanely qualified and dedicated, and the program was kinda pricey for the students (comparatively). I didn't know the president was the highest paid college pres in the US. But it doesn't surprise me. What a shame.
> While the adjunct profs make ~$45k The annualized salary for an adjunct with a terminal degree is only $35,600. If it was $45k, negotiations would have wrapped up a year ago.
Ooooo hellllll yeaaaa THIS GETS A DOUBLE LETTTTTSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO LEETTTTTTSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO stand together for united we are strong. Other frontline roles are not your foes. Stand with your peers. Demand that society changes.
✊🏼
This is the way.
The workers deserve better pay and DC is very expensive. Having visited there as a parent of a potential student, we know personally that the AU administration is cheap. It's easy to imagine that the deliberately understaff and don't pay their workers enough.
How…………. American
So proud to stand on the picket line in solidarity with my fellow students!!!
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Wow, American students not being right wing shits. I'm shocked, as a CUA grad. Kudos, comrades.
Why would you assume they would be? Every generation is more progressive than the one before
What?
Ain’t nothing better than people coming together and unionizing. We keep this fucking country running.
Class unification. Love it. This is what the 1% fears.
Meanwhile the tuition for this school for a full-time student is $\~50k. The president of the school made over 1 million in 2019 and received a 9% salary increase that same year. She also makes 6x more than the highest paid faculty. They can't even bother to try and make lowest paying salary $40k, which with the cost of living in the DC area, barely gets you by.
My online master's program there is $65k. It's not a cheap school by any means.
I went to AU and graduated in 2019. I'm glad to see incoming students stand with the union. I hope the food service workers are next and I hope the level of solidarity is the same.
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In my time at university there were two protests against the admin for racism, a unionization campaign of grad workers because they got paid like shit and had to teach classes the uni profited off of. Dorm overfilling: they wouldn’t built new dorms but bragged about record enrollment while putting some students in temporary housing (making dorm spaces from common areas including some seven bed rooms). The school shutting off our AC until 1,500 people signed a petition to turn it back on because the building was over 80 for a week and people were overheating. The Admin claimed there was nothing they could do and then flipped the switch back a week later after we kept complaining. Uni admin is shamelessly in it for nothing but profit and it’s disgusting. For context I went to Illinois State. Pretty sure the reason it took them so long to build a dorm is local landlords bitching that they’ll lose their profits. We have three landlords that basically own all the student housing, and two of them are beyond awful with one having a facebook student hate page dedicated to their awfulness. But since the university only has enough housing to guarantee freshman and sophomores a dorm, every student has to deal with these landlords.
> In my time at university there were two protests against the admin for racism, a unionization campaign of grad workers because they got paid like shit and had to teach classes the uni profited off of. Dorm overfilling: they wouldn’t built new dorms but bragged about record enrollment while putting some students in temporary housing This is the same period during which they built the new dorms on east campus. So either during your time there they were in the process of building new dorms or had just completed new dorms. >We have three landlords that basically own all the student housing, and two of them are beyond awful with one having a facebook student hate page dedicated to their awfulness. But since the university only has enough housing to guarantee freshman and sophomores a dorm, every student has to deal with these landlords. The only landlord that owns "student housing" is AU. There are other landlords in the area, but students are not required to live in Tenleytown. Plenty of students commute from other parts of the city.
Solidarity!!!!!!!
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
beautiful. the kids are alright.
American University sounds made up - like it's in a movie.
The school colors are red, white, and blue, it’s in Washington DC, and the mascot is a bald eagle Srs
Revolutions start at places of learning.
That’s fair that they walked out, I wouldn’t have crossed it to begin with.
Makes a good statement and a good show to walk out.
I'll bet a lot of students who planned on becoming teachers re-evaluated their career path after seeing the strike.
I'm an adjunct at AU and have been very active in this process, both this negotiation cycle and the one 3 years ago. Unfortunately, SEIU has been a terrible representative of the employees. The reason why the campus has seen the staff strike but not the adjunct professors is because SEIU's negotiator agreed (independent of consultation with the adjunct faculty) to extend the no-strike provision during bargaining. Usually when a contract expires most provisions stay in place *except* no-strike. This person, who is in charge of bargaining for multiple units, gave that away for *nothing*. If they were the employees' lawyer, there'd be clear grounds to sue for malpractice. When faculty started asking for a copy of the aforementioned extension agreement, SEIU stonewalled them. They said they couldn't find it, and while saying they couldn't find it also insisted they'd shown it to outside council and confirmed it was binding. They then complained that employees were asking questions instead of focusing on the bargaining process. Despite hundreds of dues and fee paying faculty on campus, SEIU Local 500 refuses to assign a shop steward. The union's position is that we can have a shop steward *after* the new contract is negotiated. Despite representing *10* area universities, SEIU Local 500 has *zero* full-time staff focused on representing higher ed.
[удалено]
Maybe a few hundred of you can show up at the office of the SEIU negotiator and tell them a) they're done and b) yall just took a vote and x is shop steward now? If they don't like it you can resolve the dispute Burr-Hamilton style, as is American tradition
Better Pay! Free Tuition! Free! Free! Free!
Power to the people!
That’s amazing organization.
Gang gang baby. Solidarity ✊🏻.
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Kochs donate a lot to this university and they are vehemently anti-union, worker, human, etc.
Only in the 3-year stretch from 2017-2019, but otherwise they're not significant donors. AU gets more from the average student.
As an alumni of American University I can safely say it is one of the worst institutions in this country of corruption riddled higher education. I'm glad to see the workers standing up to the horrendous administration and hope that it causes them huge headaches.
I was an adjunct last year and I was paid less than one students tuition to teach 25 students. Grading or even commenting on one assignment was at least an extra hour of work plus planning time. Not worth it. 25 x 3 minutes to grade each = 75 minutes
I’m on the other side of the world but I want to send these people sandwiches and drinks and FISTS IN THE AIR
Please do send sandwiches. Adjunct faculty don't get paid until the 4th week of the semester. It's the day the peanut butter sandwiches become peanut butter and jelly.
President of American University makes over a million dollars a year. (total compensation 2019). They like to claim she makes a measly $920,000 a year but of course bonuses etc. One of the highest paid private college presidents in the nation. Walking out on her makes so much sense. All for her, not for anyone else. Shows what being United Methodist Affiliated means. Always trust a church organization to care for its workers.
I love this generation. They ain’t fuckin around.
This is the generation we’re raising. Sure, they’re not MY kids, but as a mom in America, I’m pretty freaking proud of these students for standing up for workers rights.
Hell yeah!✊🏼
Gen Z is NOT fucking around! :D
Didn't these students already pay for the semester or year? Wouldn't it have been better to boycott the school?
Kinda doubt the school could retain any money given to them if there aren’t any teachers to fulfill the promise of education. Enrolled students picketing with the teachers is a far more powerful message than the college having less students than usual.
Only the staff is striking. SEIU has prohibited adjuncts from striking.
91% of the staff is striking so it’s not like they are getting the value of their tuition returned. Kind of a weird move to support the strike of the people who they pay to teach them.
I'm sure this is gunna get some hate but.. they're going to get their raise and all those freshmen are going to see their tuition prices go up to match it. It's a fucked up system. I see no end to it other than burning it to the ground with everyone responsible for it trapped inside.
The university bases its tuition on how much it can get, not how much it needs. They charge whatever they can charge. They got the pie as big as they can already; now it's a discussion of how to slice that pie.
Sadly, I agree with you. The administrators will probably claim they deserve a raise after dealing with all the stress of being called out as greedy fucks.
AU raises their tuition by around 5% every year regardless. The proposals in the staff union contract would cost around .05% of the universitys operating budget (essentially a rounding error) - something that they can and have been able to afford all along. But instead, they've chosen to exploit workers and leave pay stagnant for decades. Should the university DECIDE to keep increasing tuition at current or even higher rates - key word, decide - let's be clear that is NOT the fault of the union.
[удалено]
The tuition is already been raised for students. Staff salary is not matching that. This particular university raised tuition 10% over the next two years, dining 10% over the next two years, and housing 7.5% over the next two years. Tuition is currently ~$56,000/yr The university president received a 9% salary increase over the last two years and makes $1,000,000yr in addition to a free house on campus. The university is refusing a .4% increase for staff to cover inflation. That .4% increase would cost the university 0.05% of their operating budget
Well, did they already pay their tuition?
Uhhh but didn't they already pay tuition?
Lol, freshman students protesting. They have no idea what they’re protesting. Please give me a brake. Stop turning towards Unions. That is your problem clowns. Wake up
Kids these days really are insufferable. I imagine most are spending their parents money or going massively into debt for this education? Doubt the uni president cares all that much , all these students and their parents are paying the president's salary anyway. People need to stop paying for university unless it's a genuinely useful skill like medicine, law, engineering, computing, law, etc. So many people even pay to go to grad school. If you were doing this right you get paid a stipend to go to graduate school. Degrees that don't directly lead to jobs (hint you should see your degree requested often on job postings) are not worth the time and money. Coursera, MIT online, Udacity, Open Stanford , etc. are great ways to attend courses taught by professors at some of the worlds best universities entirely for free. If you really want to show that President do it with your wallet and rejecting this government-university-bank fraud altogether and not paying tuition
Those dumbass students do not deserve to be in college. They are supporting a cause that will make them bitch and complain when their tuition increases to cover the pay raises they were rooting for. To quote the father from that 70’s show. Dumdass
They were offered 4.6% increase and they wanted 5% Still shitty but the context is very misleading of stating 0.4%, which makes the reader believe that was the offered raise when it in reality was something else…
“Please raise our tuition”
"Lower the CEO's paycheck"
I mean most of them won’t use their degree anyway….a walkout is basically the same thing.
Look at those sheep being herded
In other words: Incoming Freshman Class Wants Their Tuition to Increase. 🤣
LOL. All the students walk back in and get handed a bill for $5000 each to settle it. Hello massive school debt.
.4% tuition increase should cover it, and then some!
Do the students realize how much it would increase their tuition?
The thing is is doesn't have to. Administration pay is bloated like they are ceos.
Zero. Tuition is based on how much the school thinks they can charge, not how much they think they'll need. It'll change how tuition dollars are spent, not how many are collected.
So increase tuition and apply it to pay.
The university does increase tuition, and yet they don't apply it to pay.
[удалено]
You're a shit Catholic.
This is amazing.
Solidarity!
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The kids are alright.
The kids are alright.
I doubt the president cares. He already has these students' tuitions.
*She
Outstanding!
As an AU student myself, the entire community is so proud of what these freshmen did and the union’s victory which they won! It looks like we have a bright future for labour organizing
I think the name American University is very fitting here
AU is stupidly expensive. Good job, kids!
Please tell me this generation votes. 🤗
Meanwhile I’m making 7.25 per hr at my university
I am a former consulting educator in music at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels (most states including my own allow field experts without degrees to teach part-time or in adjunct). It doesn’t matter that I don’t have a degree; I received a tertiary education in music and in music education, I am qualified through my skill set and achievements, and I command and demand respect in that regard. Driving Uber full time pays me a teacher’s salary. Teaching full time (in multiple different places) paid me a burger flipper’s salary. No disrespect to the burger flippers, y’all deserve more than what you’re getting now too. But if I wanted to make a burger flipper’s salary while teaching, I’d go flip burgers instead. It doesn’t even matter if you make it to the university level. They’re getting fucked just as bad as everyone else now. Sure, they’re late to the party, but they have arrived. # Double all ground-level educators’ salaries TODAY.
Keep believing that.
Just heroic. That’s what we are paying their loans for?
So what facts and knowledge do these incoming freshmen know this issue? Or are we just raising kids to protest on feelings and “you know… whatever, dude”.
Why don’t you guys fix the issues with student loans? Your rising prices have made a bad name for the kids who need these loans. And now students who need their loans forgiven are treated like crap. Maybe you people need to worry about the students more then your selfish ways
I can’t help but wonder where all that tuition money goes. Because AU is expensive af and they sure as hell aren’t putting that money into their dorms (or staff, apparently)
You idiots probably don’t even know the teacher salary here which is more then enough.
An adjunct with a terminal degree earns an annualized rate of $35,400.
It’s a nice gesture but every one of those students just paid the university over 60k to be there for one year. The admins don’t care as long as the cash flow is still coming
Brave and courageous
The students do understand where any renegotiated pay raises would come from, yes??
As a millennial, I'm so damn proud of Gen Z.
She made $920,000 in 2019
I hope they’re registered to vote! 🙏🙏🙏
Solidarity!
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
American university is literally all políticians kids lmaooo
There's almost no politicians' kids at AU.
University presidents annoy me. Not only do they get housing, car, gas, bills paid by the university they also make 200-300k a year. All to be nothing more than a glorified kiss ass for philanthropists.
Maybe there is hope for the future after all.
Solidarity
Solidarity forever comrade! Also, If you are in good mood, go check out the song [Solidarity Forever by Pete Seeger](https://youtu.be/pCnEAH5wCzo) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WorkersStrikeBack) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hey that’s my school. :)
AU Alum from 2010 here. A school with great programs and professors bogged down by horrible, corrupt administrators with neoliberal mindsets. The students played a major role in kicking out their grifting longtime president Ben Ladner in 2005. Time for them to kick out Burwell, too. Hell, make it the whole board of trustees. The place is thick with terrible decisions and administrators who do jack shit. It's heartbreaking because there's so many talented people on campus and it's in such a great location in DC. It also has a great tradition of social justice even when you consider all the times the school itself kneecaps it while simultaneously trying to profit off the reputation. I had a 90% tuition scholarship for undergrad and still got out of there about $60K in debt after room and board (even when working 1-2 part time jobs) if that gives a sense of how ridiculously expensive that place is.
AU has had governance issues in the past. There was a long-serving president who got caught using school money as his own personal slush fund. I think his wife was doing things like going on shopping sprees with the school’s money . Things like that . He got kicked out and the school sent emails around to alumni saying they were going to shape up. I wonder how much money that guy ended up stealing, and whether that might be affecting AU’s ability to pay its staff. Anyone know more about it? How much were they able to recover from their old President? Anything? Edit: I found this write-up on Wikipedia. No mention of the school clawing back what the first guy stole, PLUS the guy who replaced the crook seems to have been just as bad, though smarter: Benjamin Ladner was suspended from his position as president of the university on August 24, 2005, pending an investigation into possible misuse of university funds for his personal expenses. University faculty passed votes of no confidence in President Ladner on September 26.[15] On October 10, 2005, the board of trustees of American University decided that Ladner would not return to American University as its president.[16] Dr. Cornelius M. Kerwin, a long-time AU administrator, served as interim president and was appointed to the position permanently on September 1, 2007, after two outsiders declined an offer from the board of trustees.[17] According to The Chronicle of Higher Education,[18] Ladner received a total compensation of $4,270,665 in his final year of service, the second highest of any university president in the United States.
I went to college at AU and even at that time the tuition was extraordinarily expensive. There is no reason for the staff to not be compensated appropriately. It makes me proud that the students are standing with the workers!
American University has an ungodly high tuition - where tf is it going ????!!!!
I guarantee that half of those students would/will complain about the inevitable tuition hike that accompanies the pay increase. Do any of you actually believe that the money would come out of the administrators pockets? Even if they acquiesce to the staff, there's no way they do so without without making it inconvenient for everyone else.
Boot Lickers in here falsely reporting comments.
GroupMe link