Photo Credit: James Carven, The Brandeis Hoot
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, members of Red Youth Rising (RYR), a left-wing student organization, held a protest outside of the Bernstein-Marcus administration building. The protestors were there to oppose major cuts made by Brandeis this semester, particularly to the hours of dining workers. Approximately 50 people, mostly students, attended the protest, which lasted for around 45 minutes. Protestors held up banners with slogans including “Stop the Cuts,” “Student Power = Worker Power,” and “Long Live The Workers.” Flyers advertising the protest were distributed across campus in the weeks leading up to the event. One flyer states that “Brandeis students and workers are both being screwed over by the university from the recent cuts. For workers, things keep getting more expensive, and the pay stays the same and the hours go down. For students, our tuition keeps going up, and we keep getting less. Our struggles are one, and so should our fight! We are walking out to demand better hours for workers, and for students to get the services we deserve!”
The protest started with a member of RYR leading the crowd in various chants, including “Brandeis, Brandeis, shame on you. Workers need hours and we need food,” as well as “What’s disgusting? Union busting. What’s outrageous? Brandeis wages. What’s appalling? Hours falling.” The crowd also chanted “Arthur, Arthur, you’re a liar. You keep getting more staff fired,” referring to University President Arthur Levine. An organizer of the protest shared that dining workers were threatened with termination if they attended today’s protest. This was later confirmed by a dining worker.
A Harvest Table spokesperson told The Hoot that “The current agreement between Harvest Table and the union states that no employee may participate in any strike, walkout, work stoppage, picketing, boycott, or other disruption to food services for our students. We recently shared a verbatim reminder of those existing terms, and we remain committed to honoring employees’ rights to take part in activities protected by law. No prohibited activity was reported, and no action against any employee is pending or expected. Harvest Table Culinary Group remains committed to working collaboratively with the union to address concerns and support constructive dialogue on issues affecting Brandeis Dining employees.”
One Starbucks worker shared the story of a couple who worked at Harvest Table. Last year, they worked a combined 72 hours per week. This year, the husband was given 22 hours per week and the wife was given just 20. Both had to pick up a second job to afford to pay the bills and support their three children.
Brandeis dining has seen massive cuts this year. Usdan dining hall is now closed on the weekends and no longer offers breakfast. Einstein Bros. Bagels, which used to stay open until 10 p.m., now closes at 5 p.m. The Hive, which was open until 11 p.m., now closes at 8 p.m. Instead, The Stein is now open seven days a week. However, while The Hive had at least 11 workers any time it was open, The Stein operates with as few as four. The Faculty Club is also closed for this academic year, with Brandeis saying in an Aug. 13 newsletter that “As anyone who has dined in the faculty club over recent years has observed, participation and usage have steadily declined, making continued operations financially unsustainable. Although this change marks a pause of this campus tradition, it reflects the university’s need to focus resources strategically and responsibly.”
Numerous students also spoke at the protest, pointing out the negative effects the cuts have had on their dining experience. One student recounted having to skip meals because Usdan Dining Hall was closed and bad weather made it unsafe to walk down the hill to Sherman Dining Hall. Another student shared that they were unable to get food after their lab because the dining halls were not offering food between meal times, even though, as they put it, “2:30 is a completely reasonable time for someone to want a meal,” and they only had five meal exchanges per week, preventing them from eating at The Hive every day. Other students shared their difficulties accessing allergy-friendly food when Usdan is closed. Usdan has an allergen-free pantry, while Sherman does not, leaving students with food allergies without options on weekends and for breakfast. Multiple speakers pointed out that the price of the meal plan has increased as the service provided has gone down, with one speaker saying, “We pay $73k a year for this?”
A representative from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 888, which represents Brandeis library staff as well as a general staff unit, spoke to the crowd, saying, “Brandeis bills itself as a school of social justice. When you scale back workers’ hours, it sends the message that they’re dispensable and they don’t matter. It has not gone without notice that management continues to add more management all while cutting out the base of support beneath them. Brandeis is top-heavy and at some point, it will collapse in on itself.”
A professor, on behalf of the Association of University Professors, addressed the crowd next, saying, “Universities in this country are under attack. The question is: How do we deal with it? As Brandeis, we advertise ourselves as a school that advocates social justice and we have a nice motto that’s on our seal: Truth, even unto its innermost parts. And if you do any research, you’ll know that truth unto its innermost parts reveals some ugly stuff. When we’re in a crisis, we need to deal with it differently than the corporate world … We don’t start by cutting the lowest workers who make the least, and then hire another president who makes over a million dollars. That may make sense for other schools, but it doesn’t make sense for Brandeis.”
One of the protest organizers then addressed the crowd, pointing out that the fight for workers’ rights is a political fight, leading the crowd in chants of “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” They then returned to the topic of Brandeis, pointing out that the university is driven by profit motive, saying, “The fundamental logic of the way the university runs is not to respect students. It’s not to respect workers.” While Brandeis is a non-profit university, it needs to raise large sums of money to continue operating.
The protest ended with a student reading a petition that was then delivered to the administration inside the building. The petition, which has received more than 250 signatures, demands that the university reopen Usdan for breakfast and on weekends, extend hours at The Hive until 11 p.m., extend hours at Einsteins’ until 10 p.m., reopen the faculty club, and pay all workers a living wage. It also demands that the university share a concrete plan to implement these demands by Nov. 5, and actually implement that plan by Nov. 20. An organizer also announced that they would meet in the same place on Friday, Nov. 6, for another protest if the administration did not meet their demands.
