Janitors, movers and maintenance staff at the Rhode Island School of Art and Design (RISD) have been on strike since April 2 and their union, represented by the Teamsters Local 251, won the support of faculty, students and local politicians. On Friday, April 14, nearly 600 people – students, faculty, union members and community members – gathered in picket lines on the university’s campus in Providence, Rhode Island.
“There are approximately 600 students across campus showing their solidarity and support for these workers,” said Tony Suazo, business agent for Teamsters Local 251 and member of the bargaining committee. “It’s an incredible sight.”
The union, which has been bargaining since June 2022, is prepared to strike “indefinitely” until a fair contract is reached, organizers say. The average salary for a caretaker, gardener, or mover at RISD is $16.74 per hour. The lowest salary is $15.30. The union is fighting for a minimum wage of $20. The union began to take steps to authorize a strike following the breakdown of negotiations with the school administration over salary increases in February.
“We left because [RISD president] Crystal Williams refuses to raise salaries despite having a $660 million endowment [and] they don’t pay property tax,” says Matthew Maini, a business agent assigned to Teamsters Local 251. “The president of the university earns $600,000 a year [and] lives rent-free in a $2.3 million home. So that’s what led us to strike.
On April 12, RISD students showed their support for the workers. RISD professors have also been looking for creative solutions to continue holding classes without crossing picket lines, such as holding sessions in empty offices away from campus.
An off-campus RISD class reunion in a makeshift classroom to avoid crossing the picket line of strikers Chris Bard
Several art school departments have released statements in support of the union, including architecture, digital and media And sculpture A online petition asking the administration to respond to the demands of the union collected more than 2,900 signatures (the total enrollment of the school is about 2,600 students).
“I’ve been here as a faculty member since 1989,” says Kyna Leski, a professor of architecture at the university. “I started my teaching career here. And I’ve never seen anything like it. What motivates people is that we really buy into the whole mandate of social equity and inclusion that was written by the faculty, by the students [and] by the administration. »
Providence City Council released a statement on Instagram on April 11 expressing their “support and solidarity”. The board also urged school leaders to “come to the table in good faith and come to an agreement with the strikers.”
Some progress was made in a trading session on April 13, according to Suazo, who says they are getting closer to what they are looking for. This baraning session was “very productive”, says a RISD spokesperson. “We have put forward a proposal that is very much in line with what the bargaining unit has expressed as a fair and reasonable solution to this negotiation.”
University President Crystal Williams released a statement after the trading session and noted that another session is scheduled for Monday April 17th.
The strike at RISD coincides with another taking place at Rutgers University in New Jersey (home to the highly regarded Mason Gross School of the Arts). About 9,000 academics have been on strike there since April 10.
