Browse Cases

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Harvard University Dining Services workers strike and win higher salary, 2016

Country
United States
Time period
5 October, 2016 to 26 October, 2016
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ploy Promrat 08/02/2017

In 2016, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts was one of the most elite universities in the United States. It had the largest endowment of any university in the country at $35.7 billion. However, despite the wealth of the university, its treatment of its employees, specifically dining services employees, came into question in 2016. Starting in early June 2016, the dining services workers of Harvard began a series of negotiations with the university in order to demand a higher yearly salary.

University of Virginia Students and Faculty Campaign for Living Wage 1997-2000

Country
United States
Time period
April 15, 1998 to December 1, 1999
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
7.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Celine Anderson 06/12/96

From 1997 to 2000, students at the University of Virginia held a campaign to raise the living wage from the lowest pay of $6.10 to $8.19. In June 1996, a year before the campaign began, the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity Employment Programs commissioned an investigation, called “The Muddy Floor Report,” that published statistics on racial bias in hiring and pay at UVa’s employment office. The report revealed that housekeeping staff had some of the lowest wages, a third of them qualified for food stamps, and most of them were women and/or African-American.

Students and staff at the College of William and Mary campaign for higher wages for housekeepers 2010-2011

Country
United States
Time period
September, 2010 to September, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
2.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Tom McGovern 02/03/2014

Beginning in 1999 and lasting into 2001, students at William and Mary and members of the Tidewater Labor Support Committee (TSLC) carried out what they called a "Living Wage Campaign," during which they protested and petitioned the school’s administration to raise the salary for housekeepers employed by the college. The campaigners declared victory after the administration conceded to raising wages of the housekeepers to $8.29 per hour, which was far from their original goal, and ceased their campaign in 2001.

Johns Hopkins University community demand a living wage for campus and health system employees, 1996-2000

Country
United States
Time period
30 April, 1996 to 16 March, 2000
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rosanna Kim, 16/09/2012

In December 1994, the city of Baltimore passed a city ordinance mandating that employees of companies receiving city contracts be paid a living wage (defined as a wage that keeps a family of four above the federally determined poverty level adjusted yearly for cost of living increases and inflation).

University of Miami janitors campaign for economic justice, 2005-2006

Country
United States
Time period
Fall, 2005 to Summer, 2006
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Gavin Musynske, 09/12/2009

In 2006, non-unionized janitors at the University of Miami earned as little as $6.40 an hour and received no health insurance. Demanding higher wages and better working conditions, these janitors of mostly Haitian and Cuban descent began a campaign against the University of Miami with leadership from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).