Over 100 Smith students, faculty and staff gathered on Chapin Lawn on April 15 to protest the administration’s treatment of dining and housekeeping workers and support the workers’ demands for change. The rally was organized by Smith College United Student Labor Action Coalition (USLAC) in support of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 211, the Smith dining and housekeeping workers’ union.
The rally began with a speech by Joe McNeish, the former president of SEIU Local 211. He has been a cook at Smith since 1986. In his time working at the college, says McNeish, “[Smith has] cut about 90 jobs. They’ve consolidated kitchens to offer more hours, more food, whatever. There’s always a reason, but they always cut jobs.”
“When I started at Talbot as a cook, I was making 3.2 times minimum wage,” he said. “A starting cook now makes 1.25 times minimum wage. That’s a nine-month job, too, so in the summer, you have to find a [new] job. That’s why we’re asking for money. That’s why we’re asking for people.”
One of the SEIU’s demands is a 20% raise over the next three years. They are asking for a 10% raise next year and a 5% raise the two years following. “If you really think about it,” said USALC member Anna Huber ’24, “when you take inflation into account, which is about eight or nine percent right now, that’s no raise at all in the next year.”
Other demands include more workers, 50 in dining and six in housekeeping, overtime pay for housekeeping workers, autonomy over uniforms and prorated health insurance for all workers.
“It’s about money, and it’s about getting enough people to do what we want,” McNeish said of the demands. “Students ask for more things, and we can do it all if you replace half of the workers we’ve lost. We could have more options, we just don’t physically have the bodies.”
“Every demand we are asking for, if they give us everything like a wishlist, it’d be a half of one percent of their budget,” said McNeish. “That’s it. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
“We have reached sort of a breaking point where the dining workers and housekeeping workers especially have become really fed up with the way that they are treated here,” Simone Tricca ’25, a USLAC member, said “I think it’s really important that we as students are here to support them, especially because the union negotiations happen during the summer [when students are not on campus].”
USLAC also took the chance to express solidarity with the recent protest by house presidents and HONS. They invited both Albright president Heidi Comeau ’22 and Lawrence HONS Sophie Friend ’24 to speak. Both framed their experiences as student leaders as part of a larger trend of Smith’s exploitation of its workers and echoed USLAC’s calls for change.
In between speeches, USLAC members led the crowd in chants like “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Smith’s corporate greed has got to go!” They distributed cardboard signs and “Support Smith Workers” masks to students and passersby and dangled a large banner from the roof of the Campus Center that read “Smith workers deserve everything! They do so much for us!”
“This campus is crawling with tour groups right now,” said Huber, “so if we can embarrass Smith a little, that’s great.”. We want them to really know that this is an issue that is important to us as students who go here and as a community. We have to let our housekeeping and dining workers get the conditions they need.”
The rally ended with McNeish taking the microphone back to announce that workers who had been watching from the porch of the Campus Center Café had been pulled back inside by their manager before the rally had finished.
Amelia Wesley ’25, who founded USLAC, spoke to The Sophian about what she wants to see as a result of the rally.
“I hope that Smith’s administration goes into contract negotiations with the goal of improving working conditions and building better house communities rather than saving money and extracting whatever they can from workers who are constantly disrespected and overworked,” she said. “USLAC’s goals are to use our collective power to mobilize students in support of workers’ demands and to build solidarity among all workers on campus, including student and non-union workers.”
Wesley added, “If you see problems with dining or housekeeping operations, like limited dining options or overfilled trash, consider that these are likely a result of Smith’s failure to properly staff the departments. Workers are doing the best they can with what they are provided by the school. Think about how your demands of the school might affect workers. Stay updated on the needs of workers by joining USLAC, following @smithuslac on Instagram, and talking to your housekeeping and dining workers.”
“It’s important to remind ourselves that we hold the power here,” said Tricca. “If this is something we value — and it’s certainly something I value and that I think a lot of other students value — we need to speak up for the people who are working for us.”
“Solidarity is powerful,” said Wesley. “Smith cannot ignore the people who control their labor, funding and reputation as long as we are united.”
