Custodial staff, gardeners and movers at the Rhode Island School of Design ended a two week strike yesterday after union leaders from Teamsters Local 251, which represents workers, reached a tentative agreement with management. The six-year contract will be presented to union members this afternoon; if the majority votes to accept it, the strikers will return to work on April 19.
“I believe the group is going to be very happy with this deal,” said Local 251 business agent Tony Suazo. Brown Daily Herald. “I believe they have a lot of good stuff.” Said to be included in the agreement are retroactive payments. The school had previously offered a minimum hourly wage of $17.90, compared to the minimum hourly wage of $20 the workers had demanded.
Suazo pointed to the involvement of students and faculty as a major driver in closing the deal. Hundreds of students joined the picket line on April 12, while departments of architecture, digital media, painting and sculpture publicly announced their solidarity with the strikers. Additionally, a number of professors held classes off or off campus to avoid crossing the picket line. The city council also weighed in on the issue, in an April 10 letter to RISD President Crystal Williams and the school board. “Insisting on being paid a living wage is not an excessive demand,” the board members wrote, “and we stand with these workers as they exercise their right to organize and strike.”
“We are really grateful for all the help we received during the two weeks we were there from everyone, especially the students,” Suazo told the Herald. “There are not enough ‘thanks’ for everyone. [This contract would have never happened without the support from this community, especially the students. They really came through for us,” he continued. “This was as much of a victory for them as for us, and we’ll never forget that.”
