U of M Labor and Community Strike Support Committee

48 Join the Hunger Strike in Support of University of Minnesota Strikers

45 students, 2 staff members and 1 community member have begun a 24-hour Solidarity Hunger Strike in support of the U of M Hunger Strikers for Justice and the members of the AFSCME unions who are on strike. The Solidarity Hunger Strikers have committed to fast in support of the struggle for a fair contract for U of M AFSCME workers. They are joining the hunger strike out of frustration with the University administration's obstinate refusal to negotiate fairly with the unions.

We, the undersigned graduate students of the Department of Philosophy, are writing to you to express our disappointment with your
administration’s failure to provide a living wage to the clerical, technical and medical staff here at the University of Minnesota.

We, the Students for a Democratic Society of Chapel Hill, express our
complete support for the University of Minnesota's clerical, technical
and healthcare workers' struggle for a fair contract and a living wage.

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.

Monday at a noon press conference in front of Morrill Hall at the University of Minnesota, eleven University of Minnesota students declared that they are hunger striking to support the clerical, technical, and healthcare AFSCME workers who have been striking for a fair contract for thirteen days. A faculty member and a staff member are also joining the hunger strike to show their solidarity with the students and the workers. Professor Richa Nagar, who is hunger striking, said, "A hunger strike is not about sacrificing oneself; it is essentially about bringing attention to an injustice by shaming those who propagate it. The idea is that anyone who is human has the capacity to feel ashamed, and a hunger strike is a call to that person to show his or her humanity by correcting the wrong."

We, the undersigned graduate students in the Geography Department, are writing to express our support and solidarity for the striking AFSCME clerical, technical, and healthcare workers. We wholeheartedly support their struggle for a living wage. We are appalled by the administration’s refusal to provide a basic wage increase for AFSCME workers when the funds were allocated by the state legislature. The lowest paid workers on campus have been forced to sacrifice their pay checks in their effort to get what they deserve.

We the undersigned graduate students at the Department of English are writing to you today to express both our unwavering solidarity with the AFSCME clerical, technical, and medical workers and our disappointment with your administration’s refusal to provide them with a fair and equitable contract.

The graduate students of color of Mas(s) Color stand in solidarity with the University of Minnesota's technical, health, and clerical workers in seeking respect and fair compensation for the substantial work that they do.

As students and community members, we know and appreciate all the work that AFSCME workers do. We know that the University is not and cannot run business as usual without these integral workers.