I chose to attend this University for many reasons. Certainly academics and the location outside of Boston attracted me to Tufts, but there are many other schools that fit these simple criteria. I came here for the diversity and commitment to public service and justice that this University rightly prides itself on.
With such a reputation, I was all the more surprised when I joined the University community this past September to learn that our custodians lack fair wages, job security, health insurance and full-time employment.
I suppose I was na??ve to expect a university's policy to agree with its ideology. It is unconscionable that a person working full-time at Tufts is forced to live below the absurdly low federal poverty line.
There are 170 people in our midst who do the jobs that Tufts needs to have done in order to exist. These men and women clean our residence halls and classrooms, and they make the spaces that students and faculty inhabit livable and neat.
Just imagine what would happen if suddenly these men and women ceased to come to our campus on a regular basis. Garbage would spill out of cans and pile on the floor, classrooms would be dirty and uninhabitable, and bathrooms would be wet and coated with toilet tissue on the floor. These jobs are integral to the functioning of our school.
I am not asking much. It would cost nothing to guarantee, in writing, that if a new outside contractor were to be chosen by the University, that contractor could not fire the current custodians. It would cost nothing to guarantee that, no matter what contractor is hired, our custodians would, at the very least, be paid no less than they are now. It pains me that a school I so value could treat its custodians so callously.
If we paid all 170 men and women $14 dollars an hour for fulltime employment and offered family health insurance, it would only cost Tufts about $620,000 per year. We clearly have sufficient funds. It is only that the University seems to place a higher priority on a fence around South Hall or a fireworks display at freshmen orientation than it does on the welfare of workers so critical to its daily operation.
Thus far I have spoken very abstractly. I have discussed numbers and clean buildings, but I have not discussed lives. One Tufts custodian described his situation and the things he needed in order to have a secure future. "I work 60 hours a week and many times I do not have the money to pay for rent or for my medicines. I have one sick child in my country and I have to work hard to help him. This is the reason why I came to this country. We need a retirement plan, medical insurance, and sick days."
This man does not ask for much. He simply wants the decent wages and medical benefits that would allow him to take care of his family and himself while keeping up on the rent.
Every morning I walk out of my dorm room and see a nice man vacuuming the halls and cleaning the bathrooms. I greet him cheerfully, and he always replies kindly. I sometimes wonder whether he has a family to support or needs medical attention that he cannot afford. I wonder how long it takes him to get to work, since our custodians do not make enough money to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the Medford-Somerville area.
I wonder how many other jobs this man must hold in order to survive. I do not think he has missed a day of work since I arrived here. Perhaps he could not afford to take a sick day without pay or feared being fired if he should miss work.
I want to believe that Tufts does value all human beings, not only the ones who are paying its tuition and donating to its latest capital campaign. However, as of yet, I have seen no proof of this commitment. I am waiting for the University to prove me wrong; many people's livelihoods depend upon it.
Gerber is a freshman who has yet to declare a major.
