BY ALIX GOULD-WERTH and CATHY MEALS

In print | Published January 29, 2004

Three years ago, the Swarthmore Living Wage and Democracy Campaign issued a report outlining staff concerns about wages and respect. Many Swarthmore staff members still do not earn a living wage and have difficulty making ends meet, which drives the SLWDC to push for an affirmative decision on a living wage before the end of this academic year. We believe it can and must be done as soon as possible to remedy the discrepancy between the college’s social justice principles and its wage practices.

We remain concerned that the decision-making process on a living wage is excessively prolonged and that decision-making bodies at the college often have not, to date, acted in accord with Swarthmore’s principles of consensus and democracy. For instance, the SLWDC has never been permitted to present to the full Board of Managers. In September, the board asked student and faculty observers to leave when it discussed living wage, thus preventing anyone from knowing the discussion’s content. And, unfortunately, there is still no specific timeline for deciding on a living wage. In December, the SLWDC wrote to the board requesting a decision on living wage by its May meeting, yet the board chose not to respond to the letter and decided to make a decision no earlier than the fall 2004 semester.

We recognize that the board must educate itself on the complicated living wage issue, but we believe that the extensive work of the SLWDC and the Ad Hoc Committee on a Living Wage allows for a commitment to a decision this year. Further delay would be unconscionable; Swarthmore must pay staff fairly now. Therefore, we propose that the board and President Bloom should decide on a living wage by the time of the board’s May meeting, that all observers should be present for all discussion on living wage, and that the board’s decision on a living wage should be a meeting open to the entire community. An open and prompt decision process is important to ensure that the administration and board are accountable to the staff, students and faculty who will share their input through the Ad Hoc Committee’s community input forums in February.

Indeed, a transparent decision-making process is also central to the college’s commitment to consensus. We ask: What do students and other members of the college community truly learn when the ongoing process surrounding a living wage has in part managed to contradict these critical principles? In a meeting with the SLWDC, President Bloom himself raised the question of whether a living wage fit into the college’s mission. He drew a distinction between work for social change and education toward social change leadership, the latter of which the college aspires toward. Donors to Swarthmore, he said, are often choosing to finance student education rather than such direct social change work as implementing a living wage.

But this distinction between social change and education is artificial. Living wage is directly linked to the college’s mission to educate social justice leaders. Students here learn not simply what is on syllabi; education is a significantly broader, holistic project that encompasses our daily lives and interactions within the college and beyond. While our work toward a living wage has taught us certain lessons about the workings of power and entrenched inequality, Swarthmore must commit to fair wages if it wants to teach us that privileged institutions have the opportunity — indeed, the responsibility — to take action for justice within their spheres of control.

The SLWDC understands that living wage implementation is complicated and that such an undertaking likely requires re-examining the college’s budget priorities. Yet we stand by our belief that living wage need not come at the expense of critical college commitments, such as financial aid or staffing. After all, the college has managed to fund major projects — such as the construction of the Science Center, through the capital campaign — despite difficult economic times. Working assiduously, creatively and democratically, we can all find a way to fund a living wage. It can and must happen with no further delay.

_Contains contributions from Alexandra Bradbury ’05. You can reach her at abradbu1@swarthmore.edu. _

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