Other voices respond to planned demonstrations

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So, did you know that in 2015.... Local 30 spent $269,000 on legal services. Is only Local 30 entitled to legal representation? Of Local 30's 10 employees, the top 5 earned salaries between $180,000 and $260,000. Nice work if you can get it. Local 30 spent $205,000 on furniture. For 10 employees? In one year? Local 30 purchase a new Dodge Durango for $56,000 and a new Jeep Grand Cherokee for $53,000. Nice wheels! Not done yet... $7,500 in "Union Administration" costs were paid to the Caribe Hilton in San Juan $10,440 in "Union Administration" costs were paid to the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa $20,496 was paid to the Newport Marriott in Newport, Rhode Island $13,786 was paid to the Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali Not included in these figure: the airfare. Basic rule of thumb: when someone stridently claims they hold the high moral ground, they often don't.

I fully support the operations maintenance staff! They are standing up for what they believe in and fighting for whats fair and right! IMO they're not the problem, it's the money being spent on a law firm that could of easily been used to give those guys a fair wage.

If the College can't bring in a large incoming class, then the financial stability of the entire institution will suffer. I support the workers' right to unionize, but I don't support an act that is counterproductive to the entire goal.

While I fully support the maintenance workers right to unionize, I cannot condone or support the short-sighted decision to disrupt a day so critical to the College as a whole and a day which our colleagues work so hard to make successful. Sabatoging each other is not the answer and is not a responsible method for making change happen. I sincerely hope for the best possible outcome for the facilities workers in these negotiations, but I would urge them and those partaking in efforts on their behalf to consider carefully the effect of their actions on the college and their colleagues.

We're all unhappy with our stagnant wages and I appreciate that the maintenance staff has elected to join the union to fight on their behalf for better wages. However, actions that put our enrollment at risk are short-sighted; selfish, spiteful. We literally can’t afford to enroll another small class. Decision-making for families attending ASD can be affected by even the smallest thing and a union demonstration is no small thing. I am certain that some visiting families will decide to enroll elsewhere and that has the potential to hurt us now and for four years. So as a member of the greater Sarah Lawrence community, I say frankly to the maintenance guys, you do not have my support in any demonstration on Admitted Students Day.

I also agree that protesting on both Admitted Students Day is counterproductive.

I sincerely hope that both the operations workers and their union representatives AND the administration and their lawyers promptly resolve this impasse in a responsible and civil manner without resorting to tactics that injure the spirit and even the survival of the college community.

I have the greatest respect for all SLC employees who are working hard and who wish to be paid fairly for their labor. That said, if the school shuts its doors, the impact will be an extraordinary level of personal and economic hardship on a very wide scale. Students, faculty, non-union staffers, AND the union staffers will all face traumatic consequences. A full student body is essential to our joint future well-being, and something that none of us should disrupt for any reason, as it is counterproductive at a really unfathomable level.

A healthy college means healthy compensation for us all.

My grandfather was a union organizer, so believe me when I say I am sympathetic to our hardworking maintenance team's cause. It is out of this sympathy that I implore them to choose another date for the next demonstration, as holding it on Admitted Students Day will be counterproductive-- both to their aims and to the sustainability Sarah Lawrence College. As a tuition-dependent institution, we need to secure an incoming first-year class of a certain size. Failing that, the college will likely close, and we will all lose our jobs. Any other day of the week, I will gladly stand with our workers in the demand for fair wages.

I strongly disagree with the decision to demonstrate or protest during the first Admitted Students Day, and sincerely hope any plans for doing so at ASD 2 will be called off. How counterproductive can you get? In deliberately trying to sabotage a day that's critical in the admission process, you're not only undermining the hard work and efforts of your colleagues, you're putting the future of the College, and thus ALL our jobs, at risk. It's a bully move and it's shortsighted. Do what you need to do for your futures, but please don't compromise the rest of ours in the process.

I fully support your efforts, but these tactics are not going to be effective, in fact they will probably have the opposite effect.