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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Workers Raise Concerns at GU Coalition for Workers Solidarity Events

The Georgetown University Coalition for Workers’ Rights organized two events with facilities workers and dining hall workers to create a space for students and workers to openly discuss workers’ concerns about student behavior and their treatment.

The events, held Oct. 18 and 20, hosted approximately a dozen university workers and around 20 students to engage in productive conversations about workers’ experiences. In the meeting, facilities and dining hall workers raised concerns about student disrespect relating to treatment of workers, cleanliness and a lack of overtime pay due to third-party companies being hired to supplement Georgetown workers during move-in and graduation.

Josh Gavsie (COL ’24), who served as the lead organizer of the events, said the solidarity meetings were intended to give students the opportunity to have constructive discussions with workers and hear about concerns they raised. 

“We’re trying to show workers on campus what we’re up to and remind them that we’re here,” Gavsie told The Hoya. “To help and increase the solidarity between students and workers foremost.”

Aidan Connors (SFS ’26), who attended the Oct. 18 meeting, said he thought it was important for students to have a space to meet and listen to workers at the university outside of a working environment. 

“I recommend it to everybody to meet people who actually work here and in a setting where they’re not serving you or something, but when they’re in a conversational mood, and it’s really fascinating to get that insight,” Connors said.

@gucoalitionforworkers/Instagram | Students organized two solidarity events to engage with facilities and dining hall staff and to learn how to better support workers on campus.

According to Gavsie, at the event, workers expressed their discontent with the university’s decision to bring in third-party contractors for major events, limiting the amount of overtime pay workers were able to receive. 

“A lot of responsibilities that used to be designated to facility staff on campus, including cleaning the rooms before the end of summer and setting up for graduation, have all been outsourced to external contractors hired by the University,” Gavsie said, “Which is particularly problematic because this work used to be done by campus facility staff who received overtime pay for doing that work and which was a big part of their compensation.”

Ulises Olea Tapia (SFS ’25), a member of GU Coalition for Workers’ Rights, said workers also raised concerns about students’ frequently disrespectful attitudes and actions. According to Olea, some students have mocked workers on Flok, an anonymous social media platform, for not speaking English. In addition, many students fail to clean up after themselves and increase the burden on workers. Olea said students must consider who will be affected by their actions. 

“We really do not stop and think about how, who’s going to clean this up? Who is doing this? Who is cooking my meal?” Olea told the Hoya. “This really affects our relationship with workers because they really have told us they feel isolated.” 

According to Gavsie, Epicurean and Company’s extended hours for this year have led to increased negative interactions between intoxicated students and employees, leading to workers reporting these interactions to the Coalition for Workers.

“The extension of hours has exposed them to really drunk and disrespectful students who are harassing the workers, directing racist comments at the ones who don’t speak English, and being incredibly disrespectful to the women who work there by making unwanted, very uncomfortable advances,” Gavsie said.  

According to Olea, the Coalition was encouraged by the success of their events, with a significant showing of both students and workers, and plans to make solidarity breakfasts and dinners a recurring event, and are currently discussing options to hold conversations with workers on a monthly basis or twice a semester. 

Olea said it is important for students to continue to listen to workers’ concerns and to actively reevaluate their interactions with university workers.

“We tend to take for granted all of these wonderful things that we have, and that’s nice. But we also need to be very aware of who are the people making this possible,” Olea said. “That they are people, that they have lives outside of working for just that they have dreams, and aspirations and how we can better engage with them in order to make them feel at home.”

This article was updated on 12/8/2022 to correct a source’s name from Ulises Tapia to Ulises Olea Tapia

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