Hundreds of workers at American University in Washington, DC, said they were planning to strike Monday over complaints about unfair working conditions and low wages. Here, students are seen walking around the campus.
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Dee Dwyer / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Hundreds of workers at American University in Washington, DC, said they were planning to strike Monday over complaints about unfair working conditions and low wages. Here, students are seen walking around the campus.
Dee Dwyer / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Hundreds of workers at American University in Washington, DC, said they were planning to strike Monday over complaints about unfair working conditions and low wages.
The strike, expected to last for five days, comes after the university and its union failed to reach an agreement on a new contract that offers employees better wages and fair pay, follow Service Staff International Union (SEIU) Local 500.
Currently, there are 550 staff members at the university – from administrative staff, advisors, advisors, technicians and coordinators – represented by the SEIU 500. More than 91% of American University staff voted. support a week-long strike, according to the union.
“During nearly two years of negotiations, the union has made numerous proposals on wages and fair pay structures,” said Pia Morrison, president of SEIU Local 500.
Morrison added: “The administration’s choice to decline the negotiations and refuse to meet over the weekend leaves employees with little choice but to go on strike.
SEIU said it is aiming to increase staff salaries by a total of 9% within two years in addition to ensuring that no full-time staff at the university earn less than $40,000 a year.
In a statement released Sunday, President Sylvia M. Burwell said the university has been in negotiations with the SEIU 500 since May last year, citing agreements reached on “almost all of the terms of contract.”
However, the university and its union were unable to reach an agreement on compensation measures for its employees.
“I want to assure you that the university negotiated in good faith. Our fair and equitable compensation proposal, which represents our final and best offer, is based on commitment. our bond with our employees,” she added.
According to a tweet from the American University academic affairs staff union.
Kelly Jo Bahry, assistant director of AU Abroad and a member of the staff union, told washington articles that she was disappointed in the university’s management and the way negotiations were handled.
“I love my job so much and have spent most of my career at AU. For the AU administration to do that is truly amazing,” Bahry told the Post.
In one Letter to the American College Community on August 19, executive director and academic director Peter Starr emphasized that the university’s current offer to the union, which includes a pay increase for long-serving staff, would be a pay increase. biggest prize in “nearly a decade.”
“While we are disappointed that the union is choosing this path over the partnership that has forged our relationship with other bargaining units on campus over the past decade, we recognize and respect their right to engage in legally protected union activity,” Starr said in the letter.
Earlier this month, the employees union voted to allow a strike for up to five days if a contractual agreement is not reached by August 22. Classes for the fall semester begin for students on August 22. August 29.
