Spring Break
Avoiding a showdown
With upcoming wage negotiations, both the Miami University administration and the nation are working to steer clear of a battle
Steve Markley
Issue date: 11/29/05 Section: Features
Randy Marcum wears most of his expression in the creases above his eyes.
When he speaks, it is with a careful, unassuming patience. When asked about the Miami University workers' strike in 2003, which he led as the president of the Local 209 chapter of AFSCME, his brow narrows and the lines of his face harden.
"The biggest disappointment was the lack of concern from the board of trustees, from Garland," he said. "We represent the lowest paid employees, people who don't make enough to live on, and their lack of concern was what disappointed me a lot more than the outcome."
Students who were around in the fall of 2003 undoubtedly remember when the union that represents the men and women who work in Miami's residence halls, dining halls, grounds and physical facilities went on strike over the issue of low wages.
With some of its members on food stamps and other types of government assistance, the union argued that the university was paying poverty-level wages and that it deserved better than the 4.25 percent starting wage increase offered in the contract. The university countered that it offered a fair market-level wage and refused to budge. After holding out for several weeks, the union voted to accept Miami's offer.
"Some of it was a matter of a lot of the members who simply couldn't afford to strike," Marcum said. "They make so little money, they can't afford to not be working."
Two years later, tension surrounding the issue of a living wage still runs high. According to Marcum, the union has not forgotten the treatment it encountered from the university during the negotiations and strike.
"It's frustrating," he said. "Miami has some of the best dining halls and residence halls of any college in the country, but the people who actually maintain those facilities, who work in them day in and day out, don't see any reward for what they do."
Naturally, the administration has a different perspective.
Richard Little, director of university communications, pointed to the health care and other benefits that all employees enjoy.
When he speaks, it is with a careful, unassuming patience. When asked about the Miami University workers' strike in 2003, which he led as the president of the Local 209 chapter of AFSCME, his brow narrows and the lines of his face harden.
"The biggest disappointment was the lack of concern from the board of trustees, from Garland," he said. "We represent the lowest paid employees, people who don't make enough to live on, and their lack of concern was what disappointed me a lot more than the outcome."
Students who were around in the fall of 2003 undoubtedly remember when the union that represents the men and women who work in Miami's residence halls, dining halls, grounds and physical facilities went on strike over the issue of low wages.
With some of its members on food stamps and other types of government assistance, the union argued that the university was paying poverty-level wages and that it deserved better than the 4.25 percent starting wage increase offered in the contract. The university countered that it offered a fair market-level wage and refused to budge. After holding out for several weeks, the union voted to accept Miami's offer.
"Some of it was a matter of a lot of the members who simply couldn't afford to strike," Marcum said. "They make so little money, they can't afford to not be working."
Two years later, tension surrounding the issue of a living wage still runs high. According to Marcum, the union has not forgotten the treatment it encountered from the university during the negotiations and strike.
"It's frustrating," he said. "Miami has some of the best dining halls and residence halls of any college in the country, but the people who actually maintain those facilities, who work in them day in and day out, don't see any reward for what they do."
Naturally, the administration has a different perspective.
Richard Little, director of university communications, pointed to the health care and other benefits that all employees enjoy.
