Student workers push for minimum wage increase to match Nassau County
The Hofstra Student Workers Coalition (HSWC) is one step closer to their goal of increasing the student minimum wage at Hofstra University to match that of Long Island with a resolution passed by the Student Government Association (SGA) on Thursday, Feb. 6, backing their campaign. The ultimate goal of the organization, made up of student employees and supporters, is to “improve working conditions for student workers at Hofstra,” according to a press release from the HSWC.
The coalition began in late May 2019, started by sophomore sociology major Elliot Colloton and junior biochemistry major Luca Rosser. They are now members of the coordinating team that expands to undergraduate and graduate students alike. The current goal of increasing student minimum wage picked up traction quickly on Twitter. SGA passed a resolution in support of this as their first Senatorial Action of the year, only a week after the petition was released online.
The petition, shared on Wednesday, Jan. 29, intended to raise awareness and garner support for raising the student minimum wage, which is currently $8.25 an hour, to meet the Nassau County minimum wage, which was raised to $13 an hour on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019. As of Friday, Feb. 7, the petition has over 570 signatures.
The University wrote in a statement that 93% of student workers earn more than the entry-level hourly wage of $8.25, and that the New York State minimum wage does not apply to students working at their own college. Many students “earn as much or more than the New York state current minimum wage,” and “these positions, for which hours are limited, allow students to focus on their studies and are not intended to be a student’s primary source of financial support.”
“[The coalition] was set off by lots of heavy discontent from ourselves and our friends who work on campus, all with different workplace issues from our various jobs,” said co-founder Rosser. “We all had common ground in being paid below minimum wage for the county that we pay rent in, though.”
The resolution passed by SGA on Thursday, Feb. 6, is titled “A Resolution to Support Student Employees at Hofstra University,” and it cites the cost of living on campus to be between $5,480 and $7,761 during the academic semesters and $23,225 in tuition per semester.
“The costs mentioned before may not cover all living expenses students may face,” the resolution stated. “A wage of $8.25 per hour is insufficient for a student to afford all costs that they may incur while attending Hofstra University.” SGA supports student employees seeking a wage increase to level with the Nassau County minimum wage.
“[The] immediate influence [of HSWC] and means of educating students are nothing to ignore,” said senior psychology major Nicole Starescheski. “I see the very real struggles of my friends who rely on an on-campus job, and usually an off-campus one, to pay for tuition, housing costs and the things that they need to live. I just hope that Hofstra’s administration takes heed of what the student body so clearly wants and needs.”
While the minimum wage was raised in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester at the end of 2019 to $13 an hour for private, non-profit employers with more than 11 employees, student workers are among the excluded parties from the term “employee” that this wage increase applies to.
Under the New York State Department of Labor 12 NYCRR 143.1k “Students in or for a nonprofitmaking institution” clause, a student is defined as “an individual who is enrolled in and regularly attends during the daytime a course of instruction leading to a degree, certificate, or diploma offered at an institution of learning, or who is completing residence requirements for a degree.”
Other demands from the HSWC campaign, stated in the press release, include that the funding for the requested increase should not come from the budgets of departments, offices or other employers of student workers, but should be provided by the University so that jobs are not lost nor hours cut.
Gopal Khandelwal, SGA Senator and senior political science major, abstained from the resolution vote, taking into consideration where the money would come from. “This Senatorial Action has major fiscal implications and, according to the presenters of the resolution, the University has been remiss in providing data such as the numbers of student employees. Without information such as that, I was unsure if the bill would overall help or harm students, but not enough that I would vote against it.”
A “grievance process” for student employees to safely report job-related issues was also requested, along with a biannual Open Workers Forum for student employees to come forward, gather and share their stories openly without fear of losing their positions or hours being cut.
The establishment of a student-run body to represent the student employees would “ensure all above demands are met in good faith to protect all future student employees at this University.”
While this does not mean that the University will necessarily raise the minimum wage, many students feel it is a step in the right direction.
“I really hope Hofstra takes the path of morality as they respond to SGA, Hofstra Student Workers Coalition and the student body as a whole,” said Nicholas Carrion, a junior management major. “The minimum wage in Nassau County is on its way to $15 an hour by the time I graduate, yet there are student employees who make just half of that.”
The University has not provided an explanation as to what will occur moving forward as a result of the petition and the resolution passing. Regardless, the first Open Workers Forum will be held in the Student Center Greenhouse on Wednesday, March 4, and will be co-sponsored by the Labor Studies Program.
