Starting Tuesday, May 1, students at The New School have continued to hold a 24 hour occupation of the University Center cafeteria in response to the alleged attempt by Steven Stabile, Vice President for Finance and Business and Treasurer of the New School, to break up the UNITE HERE cafeteria worker’s union consisting of over 100 employees.
According to occupation organizer Victoria Capraro, the administration announced a massive layoff of cafeteria employees in order to accommodate a higher quality food service program. However, it is the union itself that Stabile wishes to displace.
“If this goes down, I lose everything, basically,” 54-year-old cafeteria worker Rodrick Prude told New School Free Press. “Pension, health insurance. I can’t pay my bills with no job. I would have to start all over again with nothing.”
Employees were asked to reapply for their positions with no guarantee of them being rehired, Capraro reported, and administration has suggested that some jobs may go to prospective student employees instead.
“Half of the cafeteria roles are slated to be fulfilled by students, putting the students and workers against each other,” New School Alum Sam YeYe told Blavity in an email. “The strike marks a union, rather than a division between the students and workers of The New School.”
Students in the self-labeled Communist Student Group have announced that they will not end their occupation of the cafeteria until all of their demands have been met.
According to YeYe, the students demand that:
- Every job be saved;
- Higher wages are provided to workers;
- Employee benefits remain unchanged;
- Tuition vouchers must be provided to workers and their families;
- The Vice President for Finance and Business, Steve Stabile, must resign;
- And worker-student control be implemented.
“The New School brands itself as a progressive, forward-thinking institution, but the mass layoff of workers – especially workers of color, exposes the University’s blatant hypocrisy,” Caparo wrote in a press release. “In fact, the University’s corporate approach to managing nonprofit educational institution will put many of these workers and their families in a precarious situation. In a time when communities of color are under increased attack by the federal government, we call on the New School administration to meet the demands of these workers and their families. ”
