Duke Labor

Duke is a very strange place for me. There is a tension here that I could not deconstruct for many years. My background led me, for four years, to work maintenance at a community college in Arkansas. Most of my coworkers were professional Labor, a few specializing in a trade. Many students at this school were either from, or studying to join, the professional Labor ranks. Due to this connection, we workers were respected and could easily connect with the student body.

Many will say that Duke is a privileged space—therefore whining is more a show of how spoiled we are. Others, like me, resoundingly disagree—Duke is a supremely f—ed up space (The Chronicle censors words betraying my class background). Privilege denies a space the ability to be f—ed up and presupposes that the “unprivileged space” of our fantastical imagination is the space from which all error originates. I know and love my “unprivileged space” down South—don’t be fooled, we’ve got tomorrow’s answers already spun on our front porches and no-porches; stop denying this space its true privilege and see what we can do. Here, many students have never connected to life as most Americans—much less world citizens—experience it. No, I’m not talking about the resume-padding institutionalized poverty tourism; I’m talking about true, lived connections. Duke is not a privileged space—we are the sick brethren in need.

Structurally, as an extension of the antebellum model, Duke minimizes interaction between its students and Labor force. When the few of us do reach out—circumnavigating the justified skepticism—we find a plethora of grievances: third party contractors, like Bon Appetit Management Company, operate as a buffer between Duke and Labor; union rights are greatly curtailed through a variety of mechanisms like no-strike clauses; cost-of-living raises sometimes fall short of even currency inflation; split-shift work keeps workers on campus for 10 or 12 hours but only pays for eight; shifts are sometimes cut as little as 15 minutes to avoid full time designation; non-union eateries benefit from union presence without paying membership dues or sharing the risk of organized Labor.

Don’t take my word on the problems around here—get to know your dining employees, custodial staff and maintenance workers; let them know you care and want to see Duke become a mutually supportive space.

I propose that Duke require its students to work in a Labor field of choice while enrolled. Upon entering the field, students would start at the very bottom. Every student would, as a member of the Labor force, join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees called Local 77 or the International Union of Operating Engineers called Local 465. Four years of Union membership and Labor experience will benefit every Duke student and open career Labor, Union and Labor-organizing paths. We students have very little to offer our workers beyond respect, friendship and solidarity (which if actually offered would be revolutionary). Educationally, Duke should open its classrooms to Labor; all involved in a more diverse classroom would benefit greatly. Campus Labor, on the other hand, can offer Duke experience and skill. My education primarily derives from working with my hands and my back; Duke students deserve the same opportunity.

Duke must reject the market trend of distancing itself from Labor with third party contractors. The use of franchise chains should be replaced by local businesses staffed by Duke employees with Union protection. Employers like Twinnie’s should continue their business model (after losing the Starbucks coffee—come on, we have Counter Culture right here!) with the same, newly unionized employees. Most atrociously, other eateries, like McDonald’s and its health effects, should not be tolerated on campus. I understand that these can be the only affordable eateries on campus; workers should have the right to a daily shift meal, or two if applicable, at campus eateries.

Duke must dismantle the top-heavy hierarchy stifling the dining halls. It must allow workers to make collective decisions about their workplace based on direct student input and the results of a student-dining labor committee reporting directly to the highest levels of campus administration. Similar committees should be formed to foster collaboration between students and maintenance, housekeeping and bus drivers. Students desperately need the fully invested education provided by personal Labor integration and interaction with professional Labor.

A program aiming to integrate Labor and students must make explicit that no workers will lose their jobs. Most campus Labor sectors are understaffed and overworked. Most of the capital needed to support this proposed program would be secured after the removal of bureaucrats and national contractors removing capital from the local economy. Redirect this capital to professional and student Labor. Restore campus union rights, not because of legal obligation, but out of respect, moral obligation and sustainability. We must openly challenge the Labor stances taken by the Board of Trustees and administration both during their tenure and time away from this campus. Duke suffers from its lack of connection to Labor; an emergency treatment is in order.