Students demand high wages for campus jobs

On Nov. 3, members of the Student Workers Collective at Dartmouth College held a rally demanding increased pay, free meals, and better hours for working campus jobs as seen in a video obtained by The College Fix.

The students held signs that said  “Pay your f***ing workers,” “Support our struggle,” and “Listen to student workers.”

Over 150 community members attended the rally, according to a tweet by the Students Worker Collective at Dartmouth.

Students demanded $21hr during the week and $27hr on the weekends.

They want flexible schedules so they can hang out with friends, enjoy free meals, and one student even asked for the removal of an “unreliable espresso machine.”

[RELATED: ANALYSIS: Students face financial reality of inflation]

Students spoke at the event, telling campus trustees they are not asking for increased pay but demanding it.

One student worker said, “what I am asking for… is the chance to be a student first and a worker second… to have the time to enjoy myself and my friends, to have the time to at least pretend to do my readings, like you know I don’t know maybe I’ll still procrastinate but at least I won’t have to commit to 16 hours a week just to pay my basic bills,” as seen in the video..

Another student simply said, “we want 21 f**king dollars.” 

One student called out “rich, white administrators and trustees who rule our university under a dictatorial austerity regime… We are not making a case for handouts, for being looked after better, we are simply taking back what is ours.”

“It is us who run this school… us who work your libraries, your mailrooms, your dorms, teach your classes, do your research, print your f**king books and grade your work,” he said.

He concluded, “a man-made system has made it so that even though it is us who makes the world spin, it is you who enjoys the fruits of our labor.”

[RELATED: Students demand university provide free laundry]

“We want bread but we want roses too. We want back the fruits of our labor,” the Student Worker Collective tweeted. 

Campus Reform has reported on the trend of students demanding higher wages. 

A petition at Grand Valley State University, for example, was launched advocating for the Board of Trustees to ratify a Student Senate bill proposing to raise wages for students employed by the school.

Students also blocked an intersection at the University of New Mexico to protest working conditions and demand higher wages.

Campus Reform contacted Dartmouth College and the Students Worker Collective at Dartmouth. This article will be updated accordingly.