The Georgetown University Coalition for Workers’ Rights (GCWR), a group of Georgetown students and staff that combat labor exploitation, hosted a worker appreciation event to give students an opportunity to build relationships with campus facilities workers Feb. 28.

Student volunteers, including GCWR members, distributed lunch to Georgetown facilities workers while expressing gratitude for all of their hard work on the Hilltop. While the primary goal for the event was to foster relationships between students and facilities workers, GCWR also aimed to help facilities workers understand the rights their contracts afford them. 

Elinor Clark (CAS ’27), a member of GCWR who volunteered at the event, said she hoped events like this would further Georgetown student and worker unity.

“The key theme is solidarity,” Clark told The Hoya. “Right now, we are trying to build support amongst students as well as bolster solidarity within the union itself.”

Facilities workers who attended the event said they have similar hopes to Clark. Several workers said they would value more appreciative attitudes from Georgetown students, not just those in GCWR.

Natalie Smith, who has worked in the university’s Office of Transportation Management (OTM) for the last 20 years, said she wants students to critically consider how they treat university workers and how their actions may affect Georgetown employees.

“We want more students to understand how we feel every day,” Smith told The Hoya. “It’d be appreciated.”

In addition to handing out food, GCWR members gave one-pagers to the facilities workers in attendance to help break down the union-guaranteed rights like the sick day and disciplinary policies in their contracts. GCWR director Josh Gavsie (CAS ’24) said the handouts aim to help workers comprehend the difficult legal language in their contracts.

“The contract is inaccessible,” Gavsie told The Hoya. “It’s very complicated legalese, and it’s not really easy to understand.”

Gavsie said the one-pager helped Georgetown employees thoroughly understand their contracts and rights so they can fight for equitable treatment. GCWR helped an employee understand their contract-mandated sick day policy, Gavsie said.

“In the contract, it says that you only need a doctor’s note, I believe, if you miss three or more days,” Gavise said. “We had an employee a few weeks ago who came to us saying that her supervisor was harassing her for not having a doctor’s note after a two-day absence. That helped her realize she can’t do that.”

However, Gavsie said obtaining significant structural change for facilities workers will continue to be difficult because they do not have any contract renegotiations scheduled with the university in the near future.  

A university spokesperson confirmed that Georgetown does not have contract renegotiations scheduled with facilities workers and their union this calendar year, although university subcontractor Aramark will enter into contract negotiations with Georgetown dining employees in the coming months.

“We deeply appreciate all that dining workers do to support our University community,” a university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “Georgetown University is committed to ensuring workers are treated fairly under our Just Employment Policy and works with contractors like Aramark on campus to ensure compliance with the policy.”

Fiona Naughton (SFS ’26), a member of GCWR’s steering committee, said in addition to creating student and worker bonds, GCWR hopes to expand the reach of its organizing efforts among students and workers. Naughton said she hopes GCWR’s events can inspire more students to dedicate time to appreciating campus workers.

“We hope to impel all of the students at Georgetown to care for and about the workers on this campus,” Naughton wrote to The Hoya.

Naughton said GCWR intends to increase the number of workers they support, rather than just being a resource for workers who have already sought their help.  

“We are also hoping to do additional worker outreach and to expand beyond the workers that we have already formed connections with,” Naughton wrote.

Gavsie said GCWR plans to focus on protecting the workplace rights the university has already afforded workers and encouraging student solidarity.

“Structural conditions are really hard to change until contract renegotiation,” Gavsie said. “But it’s really important between things like that to be fostering relationships with the workers here, letting them know that the students here care about them and appreciate the work they do.”