Instead of valuing campus workers as important stakeholders in our college community, UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef is undercutting workers’ ability to live and work by denying workers a self-sufficient wage and benefits such as health care.
According to a UC Davis press release, the campus is outsourcing school services to companies like Sodexho, a food service contractor serving nearly 800 campuses nationally which exploits students as cheap consumers and workers as cheap labor.
Neither students nor workers should have their education or jobs compromised so that business-minded administrators can make more money.
Nine out of the 10 UC campuses and five UC medical centers, including UCLA, have found that directly employing UC workers is in alignment with the mission and goals of the University of California.
Despite this, UC Davis has yet to do the right and responsible thing.
Chancellor Vanderhoef refuses to listen to the growing community of students, alumni, workers and elected officials who are all saying it is time to stand by the “Principles of Community” and abide by the highest standards of social responsibility.
Actions reveal character, in both people and in institutions, and the actions taken by Chancellor Vanderhoef reveal much about the priorities and interests of the university under his leadership.
The time to act is now. I applaud and support the students and workers at Davis who are standing up for their rights and their livelihoods.
The days of injustice and inequality at UC Davis and in the UC system in general are far from over, but today we see and rejoice in the fact that we are still on this long road toward freedom and equality.
Gregory Cendana is the Community and Labor Liaison for the United States Student Association. He is a third-year sociology and Asian American studies student.