Before delivering a petition that requests the upholding university compensation policy during contract negotiations, a group of Georgetown University students called on the university to provide fair compensation for facility workers at a protest in Red Square on Feb. 24. 

Georgetown Coalition for Workers Rights (GCWR), a student group advocating for campus labor rights, led the protest to prepare for the contract negotiation between Georgetown Facilities Management workers and the university that took place Wednesday. At the rally, students urged the new contract to uphold the Just Employment Policy, a university policy ensuring fair and competitive compensation for full-time university employees before marching to interim University President Robert M. Groves’ office to deliver the petition. 

Elinor Clark (CAS ’27), the facilities team lead for GCWR, said Georgetown must embody its Jesuit value of cura personalis, or care for the whole person, through its contract with facilities.

“We are calling for Georgetown to live up to its value of cura personalis and ensure that as they build this contract with workers, that they are considering all the needs of workers beyond just living wage,” Clark told The Hoya. 

GCWR’s petition, titled “Facilities Statement of Solidarity,” asks the university to address faculty grievances in good faith and to actively commit to the Just Employment Policy. The petition gathered more than 300 signatures before its delivery. 

Clark said the university generally neglects concerns of employees, including residential assistants (RAs) and workers at Epicurean & Company and the on-campus Einstein Bros. Bagels.

“Georgetown uses the same tactics to skate around providing workers what they’re owed, what they deserve, whether it’s the dining workers at Einstein Bagels or Epi’s, whether it’s adjunct faculty staff members, RAs or facilities workers,” Clark said. “Georgetown needs to know that every single worker and student on this campus will fight for each other and we’ll fight until every one has their demands met.”

A university spokesperson said Georgetown has remained committed to the Just Employment Policy throughout negotiations with 1199 SEIU, the union that represents Georgetown facilities employees.

“Georgetown is committed to upholding our Just Employment Policy, which affirms employees’ rights to freely associate and organize,” the university spokesperson told The Hoya. “The University has a long history of working collaboratively with unions representing its employees.”

“We regularly engage with 1199SEIU, the union that represents Georgetown’s hourly facilities employees, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, which provides a forum for union and University representatives to come together to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern,” the spokesperson added. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith with 1199SEIU as we work together to reach agreement on a new union contract.”

Darius Wagner (CAS ’27), the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) president, said university workers are crucial to ensuring a positive student experience at Georgetown.

“They are what help us go through our day to day lives, and so, as I’ll say again, the workers, they give us their all,” Wagner said at the rally. “Now, the university, it’s time for them to do the same.” 

“We will deliver this letter to Groves. It will make sure that any new president, any new administrator, any administrator that dares to spit in the face of our workers will face this coalition,” Wagner added. “They’ll face the coalition of workers that we are standing up for today.”

Sahli Negassi (CAS ’29), a GCWR dining committee co-lead, said students are crucial in unifying advocacy related to various issues on campus. 

“There are a lot of disconnected fights,” Negassi told The Hoya. “People are fighting to protect their rights from abuses, and as students we’re fighting to bring people together to fight as a coalition, rather than alone.” 

“We’re going to be following bargaining tomorrow as the workers continue to negotiate,” Negassi added.

Clark said the university community will advocate for workers’ demands until the university complies. 

“I hope that Georgetown sees just how big, strong, united our community is in this fight and understands that they need to listen to the demands of the workers, or we will fight until they do,” Clark said.

Mario Castro, a facilities management worker in the special events department who started working at Georgetown one year ago, said seeing students and workers stand together is inspiring.

“It’s like every time I come with a snowstorm or whatever, helping out the students here now, I just see if it was my kids, like I would see them coming here later in the future,” Castro told The Hoya. 

“These basically are my kids,” Castro added. “And anytime I see a student, I don’t mind helping. I don’t mind assisting. It’s just, that’s why I like to see more faculty come and unite with the kids.”

In Fall 2025, the university aimed to subcontract Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) bus drivers to a third-party vendor, Abe’s Transportation. In December 2025, the university said the drivers would remain university employees, but the drivers’ union alleged retaliation in January.

Crystal Luo, a professor of Asian American history who spoke at the rally, said faculty must demonstrate solidarity with facilities workers during contract negotiations.

“I’m here to express faculty solidarity with our coworkers in facilities as you all enter collective bargaining, because your fight at the end of the day is our fight also,” Luo said at the rally. “Your working conditions are our working conditions, and your power is our power.”

“I want to ask any faculty walking by who happen to be listening to please pay close attention to what our facilities colleagues have encountered in bargaining and to support them every step of the way, and for any students to bring this to faculty members who may not be aware of what’s going on” Luo added. 

Castro said there is strength in the solidarity between workers and students. 

“These could be my kids,” Castro said. “To me, the university is like a big old family.”