Although President David Skorton and Vice President of Human Resources Mary Opperman appeared yesterday on Ho Plaza to talk with students directly about diversity, their cause was overshadowed by a different pending cloud: the renegotiation of employee contracts. The administrators were unable to provide concrete answers to students and staff regarding workers’ rights and we hope that Day Hall has answers soon — given that workers’ contracts are due to expire on June 30, just two months away.

When contracts are renewed mid-summer, many of Cornell’s workers will have already gone over a month without paychecks, and will nearly wait another two months before their bank accounts begin rolling again. Due to a provision in the New York State unemployment law, educational institutions are not required to pay hourly employees during seasonal layoffs — mainly winter, spring and summer breaks. This loophole allows the University to “lay off” hundreds of its workers during all student breaks without having to provide any unemployment benefits.

University employees — who each day, provide students, faculty and other staff with food, clean classrooms, offices and dorms — deserve a fair contract. The living wage for a single person in Tompkins County, as reported by the Tompkins County Worker’s Center and Alternatives Federal Credit Union is $11.11 per hour for a 40-hour workweek, or $23,103.87 per year. For a two parent, two-child household the living wage is $58,096 per year.

Most of the Cornell dining, facilities and maintenance employees do not work 40 hours per week, and will not have a workweek at all come this summer. In the long summer break and other short breaks, many employees go without any salary because they cannot collect unemployment pay. Meanwhile, the University hires temporary workers to fill in gaps, instead of tapping into the resources it already has. This tactic forces the workers laid-off for breaks to seek government assistance programs, including federal housing and food stamps.

While the financial climate requires budget cuts across the University, a fair contract that ensures a living wage for all employees is not negotiable. Currently, Cornell falls far behind many of its peer Ivy League and neighboring institutions with similar costs of living, including Dartmouth, Yale and Syracuse, in terms of hourly wage for several facilities and dining positions.

The local economy is dependent on the sustainability of Cornell employment. And as a leader among universities and in the local community, Cornell must pay all its workers a living wage. Unemployment wages or alternative paid positions must be provided to employees so they can maintain themselves and their families and continue to contribute to a thriving University and city community.

To remain competitive among its peers, Cornell must look outside these popularly cited statistics. Research grants and faculty salaries aside, the wages of staff members are essential to continue the thriving, healthy community shared by all. This summer, when the University sits down with its employees represented by the UAW Local 2300, a fair contract must be reached.