The College Fix

The Living Wage Coalition’s agitation for higher compensation for Residence Life employees at the College of William & Mary has been the principal issue in campus politics this semester. Although much has been said about the goals of the Coalition, little investigation has been conducted into the organizers’ motives and the validity of many of the Coalition’s claims.

At the Virginia Informer, we have now conducted that investigation and the findings are troubling.

We have found evidence that the campaign is not driven by particular needs, but is rather a stock campaign for campus left-wing organizers. We have also discovered that the Residence Life workers, far from being exploited and underpaid, make competitive wages for their occupation even excluding the generous public-sector benefits packages which they receive. We note with regret that, despite claims to the contrary, the Coalition approached the workers about the movement. Finally, unlike the hopelessly optimistic campaigners, we find it near impossible to meet the demands of the Coalition without raising tuition and fees or altering the already delicate equilibrium that has allowed the College to avoid layoffs. For all these reasons, we call upon President Reveley to refuse the Coalition’s demands unless they change significantly.

For professional students and long-tenured professors, the Living Wage Coalition might sound familiar. That is of course because a similar campaign has happened before — from 1999 to the early 2000s the Tidewater Labor Support Committee carried out a “Living Wage Campaign” which saw the starting wage for housekeepers raised to $8.29 per hour. This first LWC declared victory at that level. Likewise, this newspaper observes with suspicion that other similar campaigns have been conducted at (among other places) Harvard, Northwestern, UVA, Arizona State, Kings College London, and the University of Georgia. The present Coalition is rehashing this issue without obvious cause (for even we dare not speak the obvious; namely, that the Left just does not like the behavior of labor markets).

Of course, it is the behavior of labor markets that do and must dictate the level of wages at the College. William and Mary is not a welfare program; it is a place of scholarship. With that maxim in mind, let us compare the compensation packages of College housekeepers to those of housekeepers at other local universities. According to information provided by Anna Martin, the College’s Vice President for Administration, the College’s housekeepers are paid comparatively to their peers at Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth, and Christopher Newport (see that information here). There is no evidence of systematic under-payment of College hourly staff. Indeed, data on workers’ salaries acquired by a Freedom of Information Act request showed that some housekeepers earn more than doctorate-holding adjunct professors. Perhaps this reality explains why the housekeepers were content to grumble amongst themselves (as we all have or shall) until the LWC came calling.

Finally, it is clear that should the LWC get what they want “NOW!” [sic], they will only be condemning all students and their families to higher tuition and fees. It is beyond optimistic to expect, as many Coalition campaigners seemingly do, that administrative salaries will be cut to fund the proposed housekeepers’ raises. The Virginia Informer would joyously eat its shirt if that occurred. Likewise, the absurd demand to see the entirety of the College budget, from the most obscene capital expenditure to the lowliest intramural referee’s pay package, to find “a creative solution,” demonstrates the detachment from fiscal reality of the LWC’s demands.

With state and federal support waning and the obviously trivial matter of an ever-deepening global economic crisis lingering in the crisp late-autumn air, now is not the time for a 5 percent rise in the College budget. To expect the College to cut more than it already must is also naive. There is simply no money to put toward the vanity project (or honors project) of a handful of Left-wing activists, unless one wishes to take the same track that was taken with the last center-Left vanity project and take the money from students. We daresay that now there is a lot less for the College to take than in Spring 2008.

Perhaps it is only appropriate that the housekeeping staff, some of whom have lived labor market theory in practice for decades, are more realistic about the Coalition’s prospects than the wide-eyed (and foul-mouthed) campaigners. Although we are sure that the Coalition is driven by a sincere desire to better the lot of the College’s hourly employees, it is beyond clear that the present campaign is led by a handful of Left-wing activists looking to gin up an issue to keep themselves occupied. Far from being driven by (as one campaigner put it) a lack of humanity, opponents to the Living Wage Campaign are driven by a realistic outlook on the College’s history, finances, and probable future policies. The Informer stands with our fellow opponents on the side of reason. President Reveley, we will help you hold the line.

The Virginia Informer is an independent student newspaper at the College of William & Mary.

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter