SU students, residents call for increased worker unionization in protest
Student workers walk from the Shaw Quadrangle to Marshall Street during a Saturday protest. Attendees encouraged all SU workers, including students, to unionize with SEIU. Tara Deluca | Assistant Photo Editor
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Signs stuck from the grass reading “SU works because we do” and “Keep Calm, Union Strong” in front of Hendricks Chapel on the Shaw Quadrangle.
Alongside the messages, a crowd wearing purple and yellow Service Employees International Union t-shirts stood together and chanted “Pay your staff.”
More than 20 Syracuse University students and local residents rallied in support of the university workers’ rights, calling for more groups to join unionization via the SEIU Local 200United on Saturday.
The protest was not organized by the union, specifically, but rather by a group of students advocating for the rights of all university workers, even those not included within SEIU’s representation. The union acts on behalf of university departments such as the SU Libraries, the JMA Wireless Dome, Food Services and Facility Services.
Signs line the grass in front of Hendricks Chapel calling for the university’s attention to SU workers. Protesters later took the signs and carried them with them while walking through campus to Marshall Street. Tara Deluca | Assistant Photo Editor
Following the demonstration and speeches on the Quad, the group also marched down Marshall Street.
One of the primary organizers of the demonstration, sophomore Matthew Weinstock, said he helped put on the protest to draw SU’s attention to the issues advocated for by SEIU.
“A lot of teachers here are working two jobs to get by, and we want our teachers to be happy, healthy, well paid and have all their basic needs met,” Weinstock said. “We feel (selfish), as students, that things work better when the people who are instructing us and making the university function have all of their basic needs met.”
While many protesters cited pay as an important issue, the demonstrators advocated for a range of worker protections, including the proper handling of sexual harassment and misconduct, allowing sick leave for employees without reprisal and preventing unlawful termination.
The demonstration included speeches from Second District Councilor Donna Moore and Onondaga County Legislator Maurice “Mo” Brown, as well as county legislator candidates Tammy Honeywell and Jo Bennett.
Each of the four gave a short speech commending the protestors for their work, with some, like Bennett and Honeywell, specifically calling for unionization and directly addressing SU administration to confront these issues.
Brown emphasized the importance of SU faculty to listen to student demands and prioritize them, rather than demeaning them.
“Don’t come with your condescending notion that ‘You all don’t know what’s best for you,’” Brown said, referencing SU’s administration. “You all are living your life, of course you know what’s best for you. It would be redundant to think anything else.”
Bennett, also a current Syracuse city school teacher, emphasized the importance of the union and how it has protected them in their career.
“The fight isn’t done, so I appreciate what you’re doing now, but even when you get your union, you gotta keep fighting,” Bennett said.
Stephanie Williams worked at SU for five years and is now in her senior year at the College of Professional Studies, placing her on both sides of the issue during the protest, as both a student and a former university employee.
“It’s a moment where we can see that a lot of voices can come together, and even though they might not have the same background or the same opinions on how things are supposed to work out, they can see that something needs to change,” Williams said.
The protest didn’t just call for the rights of full-time university staff, but also for student employees. Sophomore Sean Sterling, who works as a research assistant at SU, helped organize the event alongside Weinstock.
Sterling, also a member of the Undergraduate Labor Organization, said he believes all student workers should be unionized.
“I started a club last year called the Undergraduate Labor Organization, which is really focused on… the workers on campus who, essentially, let me focus on my studies, right? They clean up after me, they make my food, all the things that I wouldn’t be able to do myself,” Sterling said. “So I want to be able to support them in any way that I can.”
