In conjunction with its Living Wage Awareness Fortnight, Georgetown Solidarity Committee published a Georgetown Living Wage Report and delivered it to top university administrators and President John J. DeGioia on Tuesday.

GSC described the report as “a study of the economics and ethics of work and employment at Georgetown University.” According to GSC spokesperson Dunya Cope (SFS ’06), the report was fashioned as a way to raise awareness among students and specifically administrators about the lack of a living wage for many university employees. A living wage, as defined by the report, is “not a fixed wage rate. [It] is indexed annually to the cost of living in a given are. It provides for the needs of workers and their families, including food, housing, health care and child care.”

Cope explained that the lack of a living wage is very hypocritical at an institution that is rooted in Jesuit tradition. She explained that while workers who are employed directly by the university earn at least $10.25 an hour, workers hired through outside contractors such as P&R Enterprises earn as little as $7.20 an hour. “Many of these workers, such as the ones who wear the maroon colored shirts and work in Leavey, have two jobs: a part-time one and a full-time one,” she said. “They have no time to learn English and don’t earn enough to provide for their families.”

The report also describes the average family budget in the District and how that relates to wages. “EPI [Economic Policy Institute] determined that a livable income for a family of four (two working parents, two children) must be $49,218 per year, calculating to $11.87 per hour for each parent based on a 40-hour work week,” the report reads.

Georgetown’s Associate Director of Communications Doug Shaw points out that other cities and counties have a living wage established and maintained by law. But neither Washington, D.C. nor Georgetown do. For those employed directly by the university, “the minimum hourly wage is $10.25 an hour,” he said. Shaw would not comment on the wages of other employees at the university who are hired by outside contractors.

Shaw did say that Senior Vice-President Spiros Dimolitsas oversees these issues and is looking carefully at the hiring practices of the outside contractors that Georgetown uses and what can be done.

Cope said that GSC’s argument is really a moral one. “We should have our actions in line with our values,” she said. GSC suggestions for a proactive employment and paying policy include the guarantee of a living wage for all working members of the Georgetown community, the annual adjustment of said living wage, guaranteed wage parity, access to appropriate resources and fair working conditions. Cope said GSC will continue with its living wage awareness campaign as long as possible and hopes to receive a response from the administration regarding its recently submitted report.

In efforts to increase awareness, GSC has planned two weeks of events, the first of which began Monday. Events include a documentary film and discussions, a panel dialogue on Catholic and Jesuit identity and social justice as it relates to labor and wages and an English as a second language (ESL) teach-in session. Last night GSC hosted University of Massachusetts political economy professor Robert Pollin, author of Living Wage, Building a Fair Economy and founder of the Political Economy Research Institute, for a lecture and discussion.