@Vassar College: Raise the Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour
The Issue
To Students, President Bradley, and the Vassar College Administration,
Vassar has an unfortunate history of severely underpaying its student workers, and has routinely failed to even match the New York State minimum wage. While State law allows for such conditions, we believe this practice is unjust. We urge Vassar to immediately raise the wages of student workers to $15 an hour.
Many of Vassar’s student workers are in job positions which have recently placed them at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Despite these additional workplace risks, frontline student workers have not received any form of hazard pay. In fact, they’re not even receiving the local minimum wage. On December 31, 2020, the minimum wage in upstate New York and sections of the Hudson Valley increased to $12.50 an hour as part of the State of New York’s plan to incrementally increase the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. Vassar, however, is currently paying its student workers $11.80 an hour, and while they have mentioned plans to increase the wage to $12.50 an hour, they would still be vastly under compensating student workers, including those who have placed their lives on the line to keep this school running. We believe that a minimum wage should be a living wage of $15 an hour, and that Vassar should seek to compensate its student employees with such a wage.
Our present situation is not unknown in recent college history. In 2019, Vassar began receiving serious criticism from students and alumni over the college’s practice of paying student workers below minimum wage. Questions were raised about a student’s ability to meet financial aid allotments under the college’s low-wage conditions. In response to pressure, the college raised the minimum wage from what was then $10 an hour to meet the New York State minimum wage at the time, $11.10. Despite this, and a subsequent raise, the college has continued to fail to adequately pay its student workers.
We believe that the sooner the minimum wage reaches $15 an hour, the better. Everyone, whether a student or not, should be paid enough to live on without stress. A national living wage should be at least $15 an hour, if not higher. The harsh reality is that even a $15 an hour minimum wage is below a living wage in New York: according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for an adult living in New York with no children is equivalent to $18.62 an hour—and the “living wage” only increases from there when other living situations are considered. We believe that an immediate raise for Vassar’s student workers is necessary, possible, and deserved in light of the pandemic-related risks many student workers have faced in recent months.
Petition Closed
The Issue
To Students, President Bradley, and the Vassar College Administration,
Vassar has an unfortunate history of severely underpaying its student workers, and has routinely failed to even match the New York State minimum wage. While State law allows for such conditions, we believe this practice is unjust. We urge Vassar to immediately raise the wages of student workers to $15 an hour.
Many of Vassar’s student workers are in job positions which have recently placed them at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Despite these additional workplace risks, frontline student workers have not received any form of hazard pay. In fact, they’re not even receiving the local minimum wage. On December 31, 2020, the minimum wage in upstate New York and sections of the Hudson Valley increased to $12.50 an hour as part of the State of New York’s plan to incrementally increase the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. Vassar, however, is currently paying its student workers $11.80 an hour, and while they have mentioned plans to increase the wage to $12.50 an hour, they would still be vastly under compensating student workers, including those who have placed their lives on the line to keep this school running. We believe that a minimum wage should be a living wage of $15 an hour, and that Vassar should seek to compensate its student employees with such a wage.
Our present situation is not unknown in recent college history. In 2019, Vassar began receiving serious criticism from students and alumni over the college’s practice of paying student workers below minimum wage. Questions were raised about a student’s ability to meet financial aid allotments under the college’s low-wage conditions. In response to pressure, the college raised the minimum wage from what was then $10 an hour to meet the New York State minimum wage at the time, $11.10. Despite this, and a subsequent raise, the college has continued to fail to adequately pay its student workers.
We believe that the sooner the minimum wage reaches $15 an hour, the better. Everyone, whether a student or not, should be paid enough to live on without stress. A national living wage should be at least $15 an hour, if not higher. The harsh reality is that even a $15 an hour minimum wage is below a living wage in New York: according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for an adult living in New York with no children is equivalent to $18.62 an hour—and the “living wage” only increases from there when other living situations are considered. We believe that an immediate raise for Vassar’s student workers is necessary, possible, and deserved in light of the pandemic-related risks many student workers have faced in recent months.
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Petition created on April 21, 2021