U of M Labor and Community Strike Support Committee

Who are we?
Eleven University of Minnesota students are hunger striking to support the clerical, technical, and healthcare AFSCME workers who have been striking for a fair contract. A faculty member and a staff member are also joining to show their solidarity with the students and the workers.

Why are we hunger striking?
Our hunger strike is intended to draw attention to the workers' struggle. Currently the administration has failed to offer a contract that keeps up with inflation, despite the fact that the legislature explicitly allocated money for that purpose. To have justice in our community would mean that nobody would go hungry. However, according to a recent survey, 25% of AFSCME workers have trouble feeding their families. We are making a conscientious choice to hunger strike, just as the Bruininks administration has made a choice to deny the workers a fair contract. They could choose otherwise. They could choose to give themselves lower salaries and give that money to the workers. Bruininks' $38,000 salary increase this year is larger than the average AFSCME workers entire salary.

Why should students care about the workers?
We are not speaking for the workers. Our hunger strike is a student-initiated and student-led action. We are outraged that Bruininks and his administration have let the ideal of quality education take second-stage to efficiency and profitability. For this university to create the best learning environment for us students, the whole university community must be treated with respect and fairness. We also recognize that we may be in the same position as the AFSCME workers after we graduate.

Why a hunger strike?
We have tried every possible way of communicating our demand that President Bruininks and his administration offer a contract which keeps up with the cost of living. Yet, they refuse to listen to us. In opposition to the administration's monopoly over on-campus media, we hope that our protest will serve as a platform for engaging in dialogue with students about the union's position.

Please talk with us! We welcome our fellow students and community members to come and talk with us about the strike and our vision for a future of this university in which all workers are treated fairly. We will hold "office hours" between 9:30am and 6pm everyday, in front of Morrill Hall. (Rain location on east end of Washington Ave bridge.) Faculty will lead public teach-ins

-> the 1st is: Tuesday, 1:00-1:45pm: Professor Ajay Skaria (on Gandhi's hunger strikes) and Professor Ron Greene (on "Collective Bargaining for a Collective Citizen").