They clean our dorms, cook our food and work hard every day to keep Cornell running. They are an integral part of our University. Yet a huge number of the workers responsible for feeding Cornell students have a hard time earning enough to feed their families.
A recent report from UAW Local 2300, the union that represents staff and maintenance workers at Cornell, finds that about 40 percent of all Cornell dining workers earn less than a living wage for a single person, while a full 75 percent earn less than a basic family living wage.
Alarmingly, the number of dining workers earning less than a living wage has increased since 2005. A living wage, as distinct from a minimum wage, is determined by the amount an individual working 40 hours a week year-round would need to earn to support themselves without public assistance. The rate varies in different areas along with the cost of living.
For Tompkins County in 2006, the living wage for a single person was $20,450 a year. With a child to support, the living wage was $26,400. A worker earning minimum wage in New York State, working 40 hours a week and never taking a day off, earns less than 60 percent of this: approximately $14,900 a year.
Workers who earn less than a living wage and have a child to support qualify for social services, including Section 8 housing and reduced-price school lunches.
But full time workers should not have to depend on welfare to put food on the table, heat their homes and bring their children to the doctor. Compared to other employers, Cornell treats its workers well. But too many of the hardworking men and women who keep our University functioning are earning less than the poverty level. We need to do better.
The majority of Cornell Dining workers earn between $11.98 and $12.75 an hour, which is a good wage compared to food service workers elsewhere in the community. Working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at this rate, workers would earn close to a basic family living wage. But most of them don’t. There is simply not enough work to be had. 24 percent of dining workers work less than 35 hours a week, and rarely by choice. During the summer and winter breaks, when there aren’t as many students to be fed, workers are laid off for months at a time. And due to a New York State law, workers at educational institutions can’t collect unemployment insurance during the months they aren’t at work.
So 43 percent of Cornell Dining workers are scheduled for an average of less than 30 hours per week for the year, preventing them from making enough to support themselves and their families. Many Cornell staff members search for alternative work over the summer or on weekends. But since Ithaca’s economy is so dependent on college students, work can be hard to find.
“I’ve been pretty lucky,” said one Cornell Dining worker I spoke with, “but I know some of my coworkers have not had an easy time finding a job over breaks. They’ve been forced to go to food banks just to get by.” The dining employee I spoke with asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.
We are fortunate enough to live in a community that cares enough to make services like food banks and social assistance available. But full time workers should not need to go to food banks to feed their families. In recent years, in an attempt to alleviate the problem, Cornell has sought to place dining workers in alternative positions, often as housekeepers, over the summer. But as the statistics illustrate, they have not been able to place everyone.
“There’s just no room on the housekeeping list for me,” an Okenshields cook told me. This worker, too, asked to remain anonymous. “I was able to get another job over the summer and on weekends to make ends meet, but I need to work long hours for little pay.”
There are several steps Cornell can take to help dining and other low-wage workers. Cornell can provide a salary increment or “family living wage supplement” to all full-time employees who have one or more dependent children but earn less than $30,000 per year. The University of California has recently implemented such a program, boosting wages by an additional 2 percent for those with a family to support.
Further, Cornell should make it possible for workers who want to work full time to receive at least 39 hours per week. This was the norm four years ago, but has slowly been encroached upon by an involuntary 35-hour workweek.
As a large landholder, Cornell can also help by working to provide more affordable housing in the community. All of the college students in the Cornell area drive up the cost of rent, putting local housing beyond the reach of many working families. With the rising cost of gas, commuting is eating up more and more of workers’ paychecks.
Last fall, Cornell announced a plan to create residential neighborhoods on Cornell-owned land. But many workers fear these properties will be far too expensive for families earning less than $50,000 a year, a threshold few Cornell workers reach. Cornell can work with Tompkins County and Local 2300 to ensure the homes that go up are not mansions, but affordable housing for custodians, food-service workers and other low-income employees.
Perhaps most importantly, Cornell can lobby with Local 2300 in Albany for unemployment insurance reform. The availability of unemployment insurance to all seasonal employees would not motivate workers to stay home over the summer, but rather would provide a safety net for those who couldn’t find work.
“I personally like working. I know a lot of my coworkers would work on campus [over the summer] even if they received unemployment,” the Okenshields worker said. Seasonal workers across the state are able to receive unemployment insurance when they’re temporarily laid off. With the right policy in place, Cornell workers will be able to do so as well.
These workers are an integral part of Cornell. It’s past time to make sure that all Cornell workers receive a living wage. Let’s let them provide for their families in the same way they provide for Cornell.
Fil Eden is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is an intern with the United Auto Workers Local 2300. Guest Room appears periodically.