They were young, old, Black, White and Hispanic – demonstrators who came together on tax day, vying for the same thing – higher wages.
Wednesday afternoon, an estimated 1,000 people came together with D15, a coalition of low wage workers, outside the Walter P. Reuther Library to let their voices be heard about the need for higher wages. They represented all walks of life, from adjunct professors to retail, fast food home healthcare and childcare workers – all of them seeking a pay raise from $8.15 to $15.00 per-hour.
Childcare and home healthcare workers, students and adjunct professors, are the latest workforce to get involved in this 2 ½ year-long fight that began with fast food and retail workers and now has taken on a life of its own. They want to form a union without interference.
Susan Titus, who is the president of the Union of Part-time Faculty at Wayne State University, said that adjunct professors are definitely underpaid and underappreciated.
“We are like these workers,” said Titus. “We actually have part-time faculty who are on food stamps. We are underpaid for our services and the university depends on us. We don’t get any benefits; no health, no retirement. Yet, we are still expected to educate our students as if we were on staff fulltime. Many of us teach at several schools – just to make ends meet.”
Betty Henderson, a 45-year-old child care worker, said she sometimes has to care for parents, who have three and four children.
“Most of my children are DHS subsidy their children and the state pays us by the hour and the hourly wage is less than $4 per hour,” said Henderson. “More can and has to be done. A lot of parents just can’t simply pay us, because they too are struggling. As a result, we, the providers have to take that loss if they can’t pay the balance of their weekly tuition for the children. What are we supposed to do, turn the kids away? I don’ think so. I know more should and can be done. Because it wasn’t always like this.”
Claire-Marie Brisson, who is a graduate student at Wayne State said that as a master’s student, she’s barely scraping by.
“I’m barely making a little over minimum wage,” Brisson said. “I just think that’s unacceptable. And while teaching is definitely a labor of love – I still should be paid accordingly for my time and effort, even when I love it the way that I do. I should be paid accordingly.”
Zack Burgess is an award winning journalist. He is the Director/Owner of OFF WOODWARD MEDIA, LLC, where he works as a writer, editor and communications specialist. His work can be seen at zackburgess.com. Twitter: @zackburgess1
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