President Hennessy announced in 2003 that Stanford University has a "moral imperative" to provide a living wage for its workers. In 2006 he updated his "living wage" policy, readjusting the prices to the cost of living in the Bay Area. Sound Great? The only problem is that the "Living Wage Policy" doesn't apply to any workers on Stanford's campus. The policy does not apply to
- Workers in a union
- Workers at Stanford Hospital
- Workers directly hired by Stanford
- Workers whose employer's contracts are for less than a year
- Workers whose employer's contracts are for less than 100,000$/yr
- Workers who work less than 30hrs/week for six months
The Presidential Advisory Committee on Workplace Policy concluded “…Stanford University should not declare that it operates a “living wage” policy, but then apply conditions and qualifications that have the effect of excusing many Contracted workersfrom that policy.” In addition, an hourly wage of $11.15 with health benefits and $12.59 falls short of the cost of living in the Bay Area for even a single person living alone (according to the non-partisan think thank The California Budget Project, www.cbp.org). Some janitors working to clean Stanford’s academic buildings are currently earning $9/hr! A Living Wage Policy must be meaningful and not mere rhetoric! Let’s get President Hennessy to put some action behind his words! Please go to http://www.stanford.edu/group/slac/cc-cc.htm for a more complete description of our labor policy demands.
We believe that a real Living Wage Policy must apply to all Stanford workers, actually be enforced, meet the cost of living and be supported by the workers! We demand that President Hennessy enforce his Living Wage policy and ensure that it applies to all Stanford’s workers equally. We will not let rhetoric trick us into believe that our campus is a just place for its workers!
