I nearly make a living wage. I, a 21-year-old college student who supports only myself through part-time jobs, earn an hourly income almost capable of supporting a family were I a fulltime laborer. Is it good that I make this income? I think so. Do I put in adequate work for my pay? I reckon I do. Are there jobs that require more work but earn less pay? Unfortunately, yes. A number of subcontracted employees at Georgetown make wages between $7.20-$8.50 per hour. On the surface this might appear satisfactory considering that the minimum wage in the United States is a pitiful $5.25 per hour. Scrutiny of the effects of their wages, however, makes it clear that they are highly underpaid and overworked.
Flyers do not magically disappear from bulletin boards and Red Square. Trash does not miraculously travel to the dumpsters. The restrooms do not clean themselves. The food does not self-cook in New South and Darnall. A very dedicated staff, hired directly by Georgetown University or subcontracted through businesses such as P & R Enterprises or Marriott, work around the clock doing much of this university’s grunge work. Regrettably these workers do not receive enough credit from either students or their employers. The majority of students are too involved with schoolwork, activities and complaining about their own lives to recognize the hard work and commitment of cleaning and kitchen staffs. From administrators the lack of gratitude comes in the form of poverty wages.
I am no mathematical genius – heck, I go to Georgetown – but I can do basic multiplication. When an individual works for 40 hours a week at $8.50 per hour, he or she earns an annual income of $17,680 before taxes. According to the US Census Bureau, for a family of four with two children under 18, the poverty threshold was $18,244 for 2002. Thus in theory if both parents work fulltime at $8.50 per hour, the annual income would be $35,360, which exceeds the poverty line. So seemingly $8.50 per hour is sufficient to subsist based on government standards. However, when one indexes costs of food, clothing, housing, healthcare and childcare, the actual cost of living in Washington, D.C., for a family of four is far greater than $18,244 annually – rather it is $49,218 according to The Economic Policy Institute. Thus though wages around $7.50-8.50 per hour seemingly provide sufficient income to support families, in reality they are not nearly enough.
A living wage, rather than the minimum wage, takes into account the various aforementioned expenses of a typical family, as well as taxes and transportation costs. A series of complicated economic formulas produces an annual salary, which one can break down into hourly rates. Though living wages vary based on cost of living in assorted districts, often they range from between $10-$13 per hour. The Washington, D.C., $49,218 annual cost of living yields an hourly rate of $11.87. Here at Georgetown, administrators have taken partial steps to implement a living wage – all staff employed directly by the university make a minimum of $10.25 per hour. While I applaud this start, it is not enough. Firstly $10.25 per hour does not correspond to the D.C. living wage, and furthermore the fact that employees through Marriott, P & R Enterprises, Follett or various other subcontracted corporations earn even less is unacceptable.
It is deplorable not to provide subcontracted workers with a living wage for multitudinous reasons. Much of the cleaning staff performs similar tasks as directly employed University Facilities workers. Nevertheless, Facilities laborers as direct employees of Georgetown make at least $10.25 per hour, whereas P & R cleaners may make as little $7.20, an intolerable wage disparity. Furthermore, maintaining these low wages traps employees in a cycle of poverty, and thus many workers sustain multiple jobs in order to support their families. A series of interviews with workers found descriptions such as: “there is too much work to be done in one shift and too little pay. All of us work two jobs, usually a part-time and a full-time . so most of us don’t get enough sleep” (“Georgetown Living Wage Report,” Georgetown Solidarity Committee, 2003). Moreover, Many P & R workers are recent immigrants who do not speak English. However, given the arduous job commitments, these laborers do not have the free time to enroll in English language classes. Without time or finances to learn essential language skills, workers have little chance to advance in American society.
The effects of poverty wages are horrendous – employees cannot afford decent housing, childcare or education. More significantly, many subcontracted workers lack healthcare benefits, which could cause irreparable harm because the United States regrettably does not recognize rights to free healthcare. Hence it is time for Georgetown University to take a stand. We, as a Jesuit institution that stands for social justice, as Americans who stand for equal opportunity and as moralists who disapprove of poverty, must enact a living wage for all Georgetown workers. Though the gap between rich and poor continues to grow in America, this is a chance to stop socio-economic injustice at Georgetown and provide laborers the means to liberate themselves from the vicious vortex of poverty.
Noah Riseman is a junior in the College and can be reached at risemanthehoya.com. Plenty Left To Say appears every other Friday in The Hoya.
