Community Coordinator strike at Brown demonstrates University's disregard for low-wage workers

"...this is what a lot of people leave unsaid a lot of the time, but I'm proud to say that I'm here on financial aid and that Brown needs to meet my needs."

Yesterday, union members of the Labor Organization of Community Coordinators (LOCC), AFT/RIFTHP Local 6516, AFL-CIO, at Brown University began an Unfair Labor Practice strike at 7:30 am, First-Year move-in day. As the streets around the University filled with carloads of students and parents moving their freshmen into housing, Community Coordinators (CCs) – a job comparable to Resident Assistants (RAs) - held signs and marched through campus.

CCs are demanding:

• a compensation package that covers the cost of Room and Board;

• a fair and transparent rehire process that prioritizes worker retention across academic years;

• maintaining current policies that allow CCs to be involved in other campus activities like athletics and teaching;

• and a host of other policies that will tangibly improve the CC program to support CCs in mentoring their Residents.

It is hard not to see Brown University’s reticence about meeting the CCs’ demands as anything other than a disregard for lower-income students. Striking worker Carla [I think that’s her name, corrections welcome] addressed the crowd and pointedly brought up the class dimension to this struggle:

“I don't know about everybody here, but I'm at Brown on financial aid. Unfortunately, the full cost of my tuition and room and board is not covered by that financial aid. So one of the things that drew me to the CC job was being able to provide for myself and support myself throughout the school year because if my parents are too burdened with having to figure out how they're going to pay the cost of my tuition for me to be able to register for classes the next semester, I can't put the burden of supporting me on them too. That's a burden that I've had to take on. To give people a dose of reality, this is what a lot of CCs are dealing with and this is what a lot of people leave unsaid a lot of the time, but I'm proud to say that I'm here on financial aid and that Brown needs to meet my needs. They need to meet my needs so that I can meet the needs of my residents.”

Around noon, a community support rally was held where union members, labor leaders, and local electeds spoke in support. The following has been edited for clarity:

Providence City Councilmember Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6): I want to be here in solidarity with all of you brave student workers. The decision that you guys made today to take this action is a strong one and it is supported by the Providence City Council. I'm not sure if folks have seen, but eight of us signed a statement showing full solidarity. More would have signed, but we gave folks only five hours to sign on. So I know it is much more than that.

More importantly, there are a lot of new students to welcome to the City of Providence. There's a lot of amazing stuff going on, not only here on campus but in the City so I encourage you to get out and get connected to the community, support our local businesses, and know that you can count on us as allies in these fights against institutions like Brown University that are being so unfair.

They're unfair to the taxpayers of the City of Providence when it comes to property taxes and now they're being unfair to the workers and students. And you guys are workers. All workers in the City of Providence deserve to live in dignity and have fair pay and safe working conditions. I know it's been a long day, but I'm here to support you. A bunch of my colleagues wish they could be here but have daytime commitments.

Sometimes these fights get demoralizing and they get tiring. But understand that we do these fights for the greater good. It's not for us directly, it'll be for the CCs next year. It's important to keep focused on the end goal. What is that end goal? That's a life where all of us can live, enjoy, and be productive, safe residents of the City of Providence. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to share some words, but more importantly, keep that line of communication open as much as possible. It's on all of us. These fights are about people's power and when people organize, we win.

Frank Flynn, Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and vice president of the American Federation of Teachers [AFT}: We represent teachers, nurses, healthcare employees, and school support staff, as well as several public employee unions. But the largest growing segment of our representation is in higher ed. We have people at Rhode Island College. Three locals are there, including faculty, adjuncts, and professional staff. We represent the faculty at Bryant University. We represent the faculty at the University of Rhode Island.

We were happy to welcome all the great work that everyone put together [as they] started this great movement here at Brown University. We expect that they're going to be very successful and one day, Brown University, will be wall-to-wall union. That's our goal. It's important what you're doing here. We are here to tell you that all workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and that means fair wages, safe working conditions, predictable working conditions, and a voice on the job. This is a great opportunity for you to learn about unionism and be actively involved and someday you'll be the leaders of the Union movement throughout this country - after old people like me are done, which is hopefully pretty soon.

Michael Ziegler; Graduate Labor Organization (GLO): Y'all are making history today, alright? You are the first unit of local 6516 to strike you against Brown. The way things have been going, you very well may not be the last. We're all part of a union family here. Siblings. We're out here to support you. We're out here to support you materially. We're out here to walk that picket line with you.

Having heard about what's been going on at the bargaining table, [Brown University has] reached a new low. I understand they hired a new junior deluxe vice president for labor relations - something like that. I think I've actually kind of figured out why they keep hiring some of these vice presidents. They getting ready to start a department of clowning. They've got a car that could fit all 15. Maybe not the best use of their money, but it is what it is.

We're going to be out here for you. We're out here for you today. We're going to be out here for you as long as it takes you to get this first contract. You guys are going to win a hell of a good contract. We're going to get your room and board fully comped. We're going to get them to back off from this bullshit about not respecting your other commitments. You make student life at this university.

Paul Mayes; AFT national representative: I am here on behalf of Randi Weingarten, the national president, and all of the AFT executive board. From 2022 to 2024 we grew by over a hundred thousand members from 1.7 to 1.8 million members. You sitting here are part of that hundred thousand making us one of the fastest-growing unions across this country. This morning's breakfast and all the support - that's all from the national. We want you to know that we are behind you. The 1.8 million members across the country are behind you in your strike and winning this first contract.

State Senator Tiara Mack (Democrat, District 6, Providence): It's so great to be back on campus even though I live half a mile away from here now. CCs quite literally make up the future leaders of not just Rhode Island, but the entire nation. When I first moved to Providence as a low-income student in my freshman year at Brown, it was a CC that connected me to the Swearer Center where I started working in Providence Public Schools teaching sexual health education. It was my CCs in Keeny my freshman year, who encouraged me to join the rugby team where I then became the first captain, after suing the university to become the first varsity sports program for our women's team and one of the first in the entire nation. I was the CC community that led the protests and sit-ins and made sure that students felt affirmed when they were challenging the university and making sure that our campus was a place where low-income students and black students like me could find a home in a place that was foreign.

It's the work that y'all do every day to build culture and community on this campus that leads every single student - no matter where they come from across the globe - to feel included in the Brown community. It's also y'all that carry on the legacy of holding the university accountable to the world that we want to see - from the '68 walkouts of Black students demanding that the university have a larger number of Black students matriculated every school year to the sit-ins like the one I sat in my sophomore year when Commissioner Ray Kelly, one of the pioneers of the stop and frisk law, was invited onto campus. Students and the community organized and said, “Not on our campus.”

Thank you all for being a part of the legacy of not just activism at Brown, but fundamentally changing the way the university interacts with its student activists and building a stronger, more robust Brown community not just here in Rhode Island, but across the globe.

Ayla; a striking CC at Brown: I was one of the first CCs, [starting] in my sophomore year when they started the CC position. For the first time, I felt empowered to provide the resources and support that I had my freshman year to every student I came across, whether in my dorm or outside. Fast forward two years later, I am so incredibly proud of the precedent that we're setting for better working conditions, fair pay, and basic respect...

We've all come together in a stronger way by fighting for each other and fighting for the CCs - any employee or student who comes after us. I'm super proud of all of you and want to remind you that the work that we're doing today is amazing. I'm never going to forget this. As a senior, it's my last year, but this is just the beginning.

Zoe; a striking CC at Brown: I am a CC. It's my second year. I do not work with freshmen sadly, but there are a lot of first-years here who care about their residents. They showed up today not because they didn't want to help or they didn't want to be there when they were moving in. It's because of the lack of respect that had been put on CCs by Brown and us trying to fight for better working and programming conditions.

I would also like to mention that a lot of us were scared about how this would be perceived by the public. A lot of people that wanted to be here were threatened and they were afraid. But I want to notice that all of you showed up here despite the fear that you may have had yesterday or this morning.

This morning, freshmen and parents were supportive. We even have two freshmen in the crowd! They helped to fold pamphlets so we could pass them out. But we do this for the residents. I love putting up my programs and cooking and doing things and now we only have $1 to $3 per person. What am I supposed to do with that? Here you go. Here's a cookie - half of a cookie because you can't have a full one.

Carla?; a striking CC at Brown:: My voice is a little bit shot from screaming all morning. I'm no stranger to this megaphone. If you had told me that a few months ago I'd be on the picket line, losing my voice with a community of people who I otherwise probably wouldn't have gotten to know here at Brown, I would've looked at you crazy. But I'm here today and that's a huge testament to this community that we built here. I'm a second-year CC. I am now in GPT. I was in GPT last year and last year I had the privilege of being a CC in Machado. And for those of you who don't know, Machado is a living space, a residential hall that houses a lot of communities who share identities. We have the Latinx house there, we have Casa Machado. We also have French House. Being in Machado last year was one of the best experiences because I'm a proud Latina and I was able to be placed in a community, in a residential hall, where not only did I share experiences with my residents, but they also shared experiences with me. That value cannot be overstated.

I was a first-year CC last year and to put it frankly, our training isn't always adequate. It can be quite redundant and they leave out the more important things. So last year, you can ask Ayla how many text messages I sent to her asking, “How do I do this? How do I do that?” It's because CCs like Ayla and other CCs and other returners that I'm here today and that I'm able to do the job that I'm able to do

Lastly, I don't know about everybody here, but I'm at Brown on financial aid. Unfortunately, the full cost of my tuition and room and board is not covered by that financial aid. So one of the things that drew me to the CC job was being able to provide for myself and support myself throughout the school year because if my parents are too burdened with having to figure out how they're going to pay the cost of my tuition for me to be able to register for classes the next semester, I can't put the burden of supporting me on them too. That's a burden that I've had to take on. To give people a dose of reality, this is what a lot of CCs are dealing with and this is what a lot of people left unsaid a lot of the time, but I'm proud to say that I'm here on financial aid and that Brown needs to meet my needs. They need to meet my needs so that I can meet the needs of my residents.

Representative David Morales (Democrat, District 7, Providence): I just want to say, first and foremost, how much we appreciate the work of our CCS day in and day out because we recognize that they are long semesters. I find it ironic that a university that prides itself on its liberal views and progressive values would give CCs the task of caring for the students under your supervision and ensuring that they're safely housed - yet they're not willing to do the same for you.

The university and the administration are proud to bring out the golden shovels and talk about the ongoing expansion happening across Providence. They're happy to brag about their endowment which continues to grow every single year - yet when it comes to the conditions of our workers, they seem to be voiceless. They seem to hesitate. They seem to refuse to negotiate in the good faith that y'all deserve.

The work that y'all are doing is essential. It is essential to the extent that students are not able to be safely housed unless you are present to ensure their daily needs and provide socio-emotional support. Why is it that you are not given housing stability? It's not enough to have a measly stipend that doesn't go far enough to cover all of your housing, much less food, and every other expense that a young person in college has to endure.

We need to talk about merit. The fact that some of y'all have been busting your behind for years at a time having to balance classes, extracurricular responsibilities as an engaged member of this campus, and your responsibility as a community coordinator. Why is it that despite having to break your back at this level of effort and labor, you are not guaranteed job security going into the following year? If you have successfully taken care of your students while maintaining your responsibilities and good academic standing, you should be guaranteed job security going into the following year.

As we stand here and reflect on these values, they're not radical. It's not radical to demand that a wealthy university of this wealth provide you with a stipend that covers all of your housing expenses in addition to other daily needs. It's not radical to demand that the university guarantees job security going into the following school year. These are basic demands and they're demands that y'all recognize as your rights, which is why you are organizing. It is why you have community members and fellow students here joining you in solidarity because we recognize that these are basic demands. They're not radical. You are not asking for a lot, you are asking for fairness.

I'm going to close out by asking that all of our community coordinators take a moment to reflect and feel proud of the energy that you have [here]. Feel proud of the precedent that you are setting because organizing on the ground and having conversations with your fellow workers and students - is revolutionary. It is revolutionary because this will impact the generation of community coordinators that come after you. What y'all are doing is going to be generational because for too long Brown University has been the sole negotiator when it comes to dictating what a student's working conditions are going to look like. But y'all are saying, "No, we're not playing that script anymore. We're going to be the ones in charge of our future, in charge of our conditions." And together, we're going to make sure that y'all are successful.

Caroline; Brown’ Post Doc Union: It is amazing to see you all out here. It gives us postdocs hope, strength, and energy because we are also sitting at the bargaining table right now with the energy vampires that are not giving us anything that we deserve. And that goes for you as well. You deserve the things you're asking for because quite frankly, those things are the bare minimum. I have been in grad school for a very long time. I've been to many different institutions and I have not been to one place that would not cover room and board for their RAs or their community coordinators.

To me, it is just shameful that Brown will not give this to you and it goes to the pattern of Brown refusing to give fair wages, safe working conditions, and job security to workers, [including] students, grad students, postdocs, and beyond. What you are doing here today is incredibly important for all of the workers here at Brown. You have the full support of all of the postdocs. We will be out here every day that you need us. Know that we are behind you, we support you, we're proud of you and we're so proud to be part of a parent union with you. Hopefully, if we ever get to the same place, we'll see you out there as well.

Tara; Brown’ Post Doc Union: When I saw you picketing earlier, I couldn't stop smiling. You have set the goals right for our union because it's about all of us. What you are fighting for, as everyone has said, is the bare minimum. Brown likes to call you all peer leaders. They talk this big game about how important you are to the experience of the university, but why don't they put their money where their mouth is.

Make no mistake. Brown can do the right thing. They are choosing not to. It's a choice. So until they do the right thing, we'll be out here with you every day. You have our full support.

Here’s the video: