Students to begin hunger strike in solidarity with U of MN workers

U of MN President Bob Bruininks is not hurting for money. Here's a sidebar from a U of MN Daily story about his compensation package:

Bruininks' Salary:
In March, Bruininks received a 5 percent pay raise, bumping him to $384, 221 for academic year 2006-07. The Board of Regents voted unanimously in December to extend Bruininks contract through 2011. The deal included a 10 percent pay raise for 2007-08, to $423,000 and a 7.5 percent raise for 2008-09, to $455,000. Bruininks contract indicates that the Board of Regents will determine salary increases for subsequent years at a future meeting. Even with the raises, Bruininks will still make less money than more than half of his fellow Big Ten presidents.

"I've never made my compensation an issue and I'm not going to," Bruininks said. "I feel I'm fairly compensated." He said he agreed with the Board's logic that the University of "Minnesota should not develop a reputation for having the lowest compensation level for its chief executive." The contract also provides University housing at Eastcliff and a deferred compensation package totaling $150,000 in 2007-08 and increasing by $25,000 in each subsequent year. After the 2003 budget cuts, Bruininks eliminated 14 administrators' car allowances, including his own.

I received this letter/press release today:

Students start hunger strike for Justice: Call on Bruininks to provide a fair settlement

PRESS CONFERENCE: Patio in front of Morrill Hall, north end of the East Bank Mall, University of Minnesota, NOON on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2007.

At least 10 University of Minnesota students will begin an indefinite hunger strike on Monday in support of a fair settlement of the clerical, technical and healthcare workers’ strike entering its third week. In solidarity with this student-led effort, a faculty member, a staff member, and a striking worker will join them in their action. After exhausting all possibilities of communicating their
message to President Bruininks and his administration, the group of students has organized the action as a HUNGER STRIKE FOR JUSTICE.Isaac Kamola, a hunger striker and a graduate student in political science, said, “we are frustrated by the inaccessibility of Bruininks’ administration. They have closed off all avenues of discussion, they flood our email with propaganda, and they are too afraid to debate in a public forum, because their position is so unreasonable.”

Undergraduate hunger striker, Sofia Shank, said, “Bruininks doesn’t seem to care about principles of democracy, justice, or equity. We have chosen to embark on a hunger strike that will raise people’s awareness of his lack of accountability to the public.”

The Hunger Strike for Justice aims to highlight the growing problem of wage inequality on campus, in which the University is unwilling to pay the relative pittance it would take to keep its lowest paid workers abreast of inflation, an issue at the heart of the current labor conflict. A survey conducted by the AFSCME union in 2005 found that 25% of union members working at the U had difficulties affording to feed their families. “We want justice for our community, and that
means nobody in our university should go hungry,” explained Kyle Johnson, an undergraduate in fine arts. “Our hunger strike is meant to highlight a crisis that needs a resolution now: hundreds and hundreds of workers are going home to their families without a paycheck every day this strike drags on,” he concluded.

Students have vowed to refrain from all solid foods, and will subsist on only juices, water and salt. Aerospace engineering graduate student, Amit Singh, states, “The hunger strike will be difficult, but we feel that our actions reflect the urgency of the situation. The AFSCME workers have been on strike for twelve days now. The university community has overwhelmingly come out in support of our essential workers. But the administration continues to ignore requests for a fair and livable contract.” For many letters from groups of students and faculty supporting the union’s position, see http://www.uworkers.org.

Weather permitting, the students plan to maintain a public presence on the Northrop Mall. Students and their supporters will continue to go about their daily routine as much as possible, coming together to support each other and contributing to a debate on campus during
their off time. The group encourages all members of the University and surrounding community to join them at the hunger strike site. Like University instructors, the hunger strikers will hold daily “office hours,” between 9:30am - 6 pm. During this time, they hope to engage fellow students in education about the issues of the AFSCME strike and answer any questions about the action.

In the evenings, the Hunger Strike for Justice will relocate to University Baptist Church, 1219 University Ave. SE, which also serves as the union’s strike headquarters.

Students are committing to continue their hunger strike in solidarity with the AFSCME campus locals until the Administration meets the union’s demands for a fair contract.