It is no secret that times are getting tougher for post-secondary students who must support themselves through work. Minimum wage in BC is $10.25 while the living wage in the metro Vancouver region is $19.62 for a family of four with both parents fully employed.
It is true that most working students are not fully employed parents, [but this] nevertheless points toward structural impoverishment for low-skilled workers. Most students come to university to develop skills and abilities that will improve their position within the labour market because their current skill levels place them firmly in the minimum wage, or near minimum wage, pay grade.
Regardless of one’s political stance towards unionized labour, it is a fact that unionized workers on the whole have better wages and benefits and greater job security than do non-union workers. If this were not the case, businesses would not be so keen to oppose unionization or call upon the government to institute policies that erect barriers to workplace organization.
Unorganized low-skill workers, especially, are treated as readily substitutable for one another; economic precariousness is their hallmark condition of existence.
The growing rift between wages and the cost of living implies both that workplace unionization to protect jobs and labour militancy to fight for better working conditions and standards of living are increasingly becoming a matter of survival for low-wage workers. Indeed, the job protection against arbitrary dismissals that a union job provides enables a more solid position from which a militant struggle for respect and a better life can be fought.
There are a number of students who work on campus in unionized jobs. Teaching Assistants and Teacher Markers, the members of TSSU, are probably the most visible. The office, retail and library staff of both SFU and the SFSS as members of CUPE, are probably the second most apparent unionized workers on campus. Then there are the food and beverage services workers that you will find in the Highland Pub, who are also CUPE members employed by the SFSS.
Perhaps less apparent are the food and beverage service workers in the cafeterias, White Spot, Starbucks, Residence Dining Hall and the Diamond Alumni Club who are members of Unite Here! Local 40. These workers are employed by Compass Canada who holds the SFU food services contract. MBC private vendor food court workers are unorganized.
Many Unite Here! Local 40 members on campus are not students, but many are. SFU Food Services is a key provider of employment opportunities for working students on campus. Therefore, the strength of presence of Local 40 at SFU is a determinant of well-being for working students at SFU. Unite Here! Local 40 will be organizing to increase its presence on campus and improve standards of living for its members, many being students.
In solidarity,
Joel Warren
Chair, Labour Studies Student Union
Member, Unite Here! Local 40 (off campus)
