JANUARY 5, 2021 (HANOVER, NH)

Open Letter to Dartmouth Administration from DDS Student Workers, Organizing Under the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth (SWCD)

Dear Board of Trustees, President Hanlon, Provost Kotz and all involved leadership,

We, Dartmouth Dining Services student workers, organizing under the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth (SWCD), are writing to you to notify you of our intent to unionize. A supermajority of student workers at all Dartmouth Dining Services locations have signed cards expressing their intent to be members of and be represented by the SWCD. We are asking you to recognize us voluntarily through a card-check agreement, whereby an agreed-upon third-party will verify that a majority of student workers have agreed to unionize, without an election through the National Labor Relations Board that will unnecessarily draw out the process. We also approach you with key COVID-related issues, namely sick pay during missed shifts and the necessity of collaborative and dynamic communication channels between the administration and workers, that must be addressed as soon as possible.

As student workers, we have taken this step in a cooperative spirit. Our intent in unionizing is to make Dartmouth a flourishing community for all. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen what a lack of student and worker representation in the decision-making process of our College has led to. Seeking to cut losses, the College has refrained from investing in key resources that would help alleviate the toll the pandemic has taken on its community. A failure to respond effectively to issues such as mental health, rent increases, poverty stipends and insufficient wages has led to a deterioration of the well-being of our College. The immense increase of the endowment from 6.2 billion to 8.5 billion USD further highlights the missteps taken throughout the last two years–and reminds us all that they were avoidable. We believe that these missteps and failures have primarily resulted from a lack of student and worker representation in the decision-making process. We hold that it is not possible to effectively govern the College in such a way as to benefit its real shareholders, its students and workers, without first hearing their voices.

By recognizing our union voluntarily and not resorting to union-busting efforts seen at other locations like Kenyon and Columbia, the College will be expressing its interest in a democratic, flourishing community, where students and workers work together with our leadership to chart the best course for everyone. Some universities have said that unions put a third party between the employer and the employee, and disrupt peaceful relationships in the workplace. We hope that the College does not agree with these characterizations: unions are not third parties—they are organizations of workers, and so as long as the College recognizes the absolute legal right of workers to unionize, there is no reason for such disruptions to occur. Unions are the prime way workers can come together, exercise legitimate power, win and institutionalize their demands. We believe that only through a unionized campus, not through a fractured one, can the College be an equitable, democratic, flourishing place.

By recognizing our union voluntarily, the College will greatly increase its reputation as a worker-friendly institution, and will signal to all members of our community that it looks after them, and is willing to hear their united, democratically organized voice. After what we have seen throughout the pandemic, another approach would not be feasible. Union-busting would benefit no one, neither the workers nor the College.

One way such an approach can help better our community is through cooperation on the following issue: in its recent communication to the community, the College has instituted revised, looser COVID protocols, anticipating a larger infection rate, such as in-dorm isolation and directing infected individuals to go out and pick up food on their own. These policies will be directly and indirectly exposing workers to COVID-19 at rates never seen before during the pandemic. Dining workers and custodians will be facing a surge of COVID-positive students; library, Hinman, and Collis employees, as well as many others working all across campus will be unevenly exposed to the circulation of the virus. Given such a situation, the appropriate response is two-pronged: the College must pay every worker, including student workers, for hours missed due to COVID-19 isolation, and establish collaborative and dynamic channels of communication with workers to receive feedback on issues like risk, safety, and exposure. This would help foster a sense of unity, and allow us all safer passage out of the pandemic. Until then, we will be running a mutual aid fund to cover missed shifts to the best of our ability.

We await a written response from you to both requests, union recognition and COVID-related demands, by 11:59 PM EST, Monday, January 17th, delivered to studentworkersdartmouth@gmail.com.

Regards,
Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth

If you are a Dartmouth student, worker, faculty, student organization, department or alumni, or wish to support our efforts from outside our community, you can sign on to this letter asking the administration for a card-check agreement,  donate to our union fund, follow us and share us on social media, and contact us with words of solidarity.

Under the National Labor Relations Act, private sector employees are guaranteed the right to organize, and no action can be taken by an employer against their employees in response to unionization efforts. More information can be found on the website of the National Labor Relations Board.