From Lattes to Lenin: SWCD’s Labor Movement

After the third round of contract negotiations with the College, when all of the SWCD’s previous demands had been met, the College sent the student union its final offer for the DDS and UGA contracts. Of course, the communists who run the SWCD will never stop asking for more. Until capitalism is completely dismantled at Dartmouth (whatever that means) and in the United States, economically insane demands (and irrelevant social issues) will continue to be the focus of the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth. The union has decided to strike as a result of the College’s reluctance to give in to their infinite demands. This has significantly affected operations at Novack Café and other cafés across campus, which are now being graciously run with adjusted hours by a series of full-time workers who have temporarily transferred to these locations. 

Even though the College does not have an active contract with the SWCD, it’s unfortunate that federal law prohibits a secondary union from being able to arise and sign a new contract with the school. This is no surprise, considering that unions and their political donations have a huge stake in the politics of Washington. The reality is that Dartmouth is stuck with the SWCD. Its leadership needs to be replaced, but we won’t hold our breaths waiting for that to happen. 

To begin, the UGAs recently unionized under the SWCD. As would be expected, the student union is having a blast with this. The benefits that are currently offered by the College are a $2,000 cash stipend and an 80-block meal plan (which costs $2,243) per term. Based on whether a student already receives a free meal plan with financial aid, this is anywhere from $2,000 to $4,243 per term in benefits. The College has agreed to expand the benefits in its final proposed contract with an unlimited meal plan instead of the 80-block. This is now $2,000 to $4,577 in benefits.

It might seem strange that the same labor has a gross return of $2,000 for some and $4,577 for others. However, if equality were the goal, then financial aid for meal plans would not exist. Thankfully, in this particular case of attending a college with altruistic financial aid, the typical industrial standard for labor equating the same wage can be disregarded. Equality of pay could be achieved by making the lowest number of $2,000 the standard for all. Even with this number, the demand for UGA positions will still exceed the positions available. This means that the labor of being a UGA is worth the $2,000 reward per term, let alone having a free meal plan as a perk.

The number of hours per term which the College assumes UGAs work is approximately 165. This is over $27 per hour adjusted when accounting for the unlimited meal plan. Even without the unlimited meal plan, this is just over $12 per hour. The reality, however, is that most UGAs are paid to do nothing. Freshman UGAs, who have the responsibility of welcoming new students and offering support, do something, but it’s not exactly exhausting work, either. 165 hours per term is a ridiculous overestimation of their labor. This assumes that UGAs work 2.35 hours a day the entire term. This is preposterous. Their labor is likely ten times less. If the SWCD truly cared about being rewarded for labor fairly, they would be asking the college to pay them less. At a minimum, the SWCD should make its main priority making the rewards greater for first-year UGAs specifically. 

The union, however, seeks a $3,000 stipend, an unlimited meal plan, and free housing. They also demand “paid training.” In total benefits, this is a $3,000 stipend, a $2,577 meal plan, a $4,006 housing plan, and money on top of this to reward them for attending training. As if we cannot assume this training is accounted for in the 165 supposed hours the UGAs work per term? Excluding financial aid “reductions,” this is over $9,583 in total benefits. This is insanity. For a three-term year (with a summer break too), this equates to $28,789 in benefits a year. Keep in mind, if you are not a UGA, this is $28,789 that your neighbor is getting and that you are subsidizing. Ask yourself what your neighbor does that makes him/her deserve almost $30k more than you. The SWCD should not be and will not be taken seriously. 

The actions of the SWCD are especially troubling when you zoom out from this view from the ivory towers of the Ivy League and put these demands into perspective. These students are bringing up grievances that would never be made in the real world because, frankly, people don’t have time for antics when they need to put food on the table. It takes a special position of entitlement and privilege to demand extraordinary pay for meager work. The real workers of Dartmouth put in long hours and rely on their hard work to makes ends meet. They don’t have the prospects of an Ivy League degree and six-figure salaries awaiting them. Yet somehow they aren’t the ones stirring up a fuss. The supposed working-class champions in the SWCD masquerade as oppressed, and in doing so throw dirt in the faces of lower-class Hanover and Lebanon communities. 

What’s almost as ridiculous as the union’s UGA demands are its DDS demands. Every single demand had been met by the school before the final contract came out. The wages were increased to a minimum of $23.00 per hour. Mental Health and Paid Time Off were both expanded, and dining meal credits were expanded. The other big demand was also met; they included clauses in the contract that protect international and non-citizen workers. But the union keeps asking for more. 

It still has immigration as a top priority. However, the College’s proposed contract reads clearly as follows: “Dartmouth shall not release or report information regarding the immigration status of current or former International student workers to any government agency, or representatives thereof, unless and until legally obligated to do so.” If ICE or law enforcement inquiries about a student, it is the protocol in the contract to notify the Department of Safety and Security, as well as the Office of Visa and Immigration Services and/or their manager. Separately, since May 1, the College has changed its policy to clearly and explicitly bar law enforcement and immigration agencies from all private locations on campus. None of this was ever the policy of the school, but it is very clearly laid out now. The “ICE off campus” slogan that the union loves should no longer be in use.

The union has responded to this on Instagram stating: “Dartmouth’s current proposal is that if you see an ICE officer, call SNS or OVIS … call the same officers that arrested 80+ students? And call the office run by Trump ally Matt Raymer.” This is foolish to assume the same College that accepted these immigrants is not looking out for them. However, what does the union want the College to do? Should it authorize DDS to take up arms against ICE upon their warranted visits? The union now also demands a $30,000 DDS legal fund for immigration attorneys. This is on top of the DSG and the College’s own funds. This is a demand that was announced after the final contract was sent back. The union keeps asking for more. Nothing will ever be enough.

Other than continuing to pretend like immigration is an issue that needs to be further addressed, the SWCD also continues to push its baseless claims against automation. DDS will not and has not threatened their positions with automation. What the union does not seem to understand is that automation is not a threat on an individual level. The contract is clear that “[i]f a scheduled shift is eliminated, a work shift will be made available at other dining locations for the same shift as the eliminated shift.” If automation is coming, it is not going to result in the firing of employees. Under the current policy, it cannot be like this. It would come from the fact that the freshmen they hire would be increasingly fewer each year. There is no way to protect against this. In reality, what I am worried about as a student worker, however, is the fact that it is only a matter of time until DDS decides to replace the student workers with full-time employees who have a more realistic sense of economics (and who complain less). This is all, of course, thanks to the SWCD.

One interesting demand the SWCD makes is for holiday pay. They want to be paid more to work on holidays. This is a separate issue from student holidays like Homecoming, Winter Carnival, and Green Key. On those student holidays, the pay is 1.5x the regular wage. However, for holidays (which holidays they have in mind is unclear), the union demands even more pay. Students have the ability to drop shifts 24 hours in advance if they don’t wish to work a holiday. If a student chooses to work on a holiday, that is up to them. No one is forcing them to do so. The reality is that it’s not a big deal if one works when they are already staying on campus for a holiday. And if they do, they can choose not to work rather than choose to work and get paid extra to not attend. What’s funny is how, on holidays, the College often closes dining locations. If a student worker is supposed to work that shift and the location is closed for the holiday, they still get paid (to not go to work). The benefits that DDS gives its workers are already plenty enough, and yet the SWCD somehow manages to demand more.

Oftentimes, when the SWCD makes a demand on Instagram or on one of their flyers, the College has already specified something about it in the contract. Bereavement leave is an example of this. The SWCD lists this as one of their unfulfilled demands, yet the contract specifically clarifies that Paid Time Off and Mental Health hours may first be used for this, but that “management will work in good faith with the impacted student to maintain their employment status at their location of work even if the student worker has exhausted all paid time off under this article.” It is unclear what more DDS can say or do regarding this matter. The union’s demands are often never clear, though.

Ultimately, the demands of the SWCD are either ridiculous or have already been fulfilled. Thankfully, the vast majority of the student body understands that the strike and the union’s demands are ridiculous. Being a DDS worker or a UGA is a privilege on this campus. The Dartmouth students who apply for UGA positions and are rejected understand this. The Dartmouth students who go home during the summer to work at a market price of $10 less than the average DDS student worker also understand this. The SWCD is run by a coalition of the loudest and most entitled students at this Ivy League institution. Their demands should not be taken seriously. Everyone needs a hobby, though.