At the recent Reunion Weekend I attended the State of the University address by President Richard Brodhead. Upon entering Page Auditorium, a student handed me what appeared to be, based on the front cover, a program for the morning’s events. I discovered, however, that the inside had nothing to do with the State of the University, but was about the “struggle for workers’ rights.
While the struggle for workers’ rights is often a commendable one, and one that is not new on the Duke campus, the situation decried in this leaflet was not commendable. In essence, the Duke Health System outsourced its laundry service, with price presumably one of the factors used in choosing the contractor. Now a segment of the Duke student body is demanding changes in the outsource firm’s human resource practices.
It strikes me that the concerned students are fighting the battle at the wrong time and with the wrong villain. They should be demanding that the Duke Health System choose a different outsource contractor and be prepared to pay the higher costs that are bound to come with higher wages, lower production quotas, and unionization.
I also wish that the students would give some attention to “truth in labeling.” I found the whole incident misguided and tasteless. If the organizers set out to offend alumni, they succeeded with me.
T. Chandler Cox
BSEE 1960
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