On the Death of a Fellow Worker...

The vigil will be at 3 P.M. next Saturday (4/7/07) directly in front of the Hatcher graduate library in the diag. Look for us around the "M".

Dear friends and fellow workers,

We recently have been informed that a fellow worker of ours from the cafeteria in the basement of the business school, James Kirk, has sadly passed away Friday afternoon. Aswould be expected, a lot of the workers are absolutely shocked at the news of his passing. We took it upon ourselves to inform you all about the news, as I know that most of us (at least laptop support) go down on our 15 minute breaks to get a bite to eat, some snacks, or even a hot meal from the kitchen. But it's not just the workers who get their food prepared by these workers every day, it's students as well.

We are planning to host a candle lit vigil on the M in the diag (in front of the Grad Library and shapiro) and have a moment of silence for James sometime this week which would include all of the Ross Business school employees and also the students organizing in the temps campaign to show appreciation for his work here at the University. This is an issue near and dear to us, not only because James was a fellow worker, but because James might have been able to receive a proper diagnosis and treatment for his condition had he been given access to UHS; a struggle closely tied to the temps campaign.

If you are interested in attending or have any other ideas of ways to have a remembrance for our fellow worker and friend go ahead and let us know. You can call an IWW organizer at (734) 272-2321.

This is a very sad time for all of us, so I believe staying
together and staying strong is a rather important for us at this
time. We will keep everyone posted.

Rest In Peace

The Temps

An Open Letter to U of M Faculty...

Check out our open letter to U of M faculty (PDF)...

Rally and Board of Regents Report Back

The temps organizing committee would like to thank Naomi, from Students for a Democratic Society, who gave a moving address on our behalf to the board of regents yesterday. Naomi worked with us directly in writing her speech, and highlighted the conditions many temps on campus face and specifically discussed events unfolding at the Ross School of Business. High-five, Naomi.

We would also like to thank the student groups that turned out for the Campus Unite! rally and showed their support for our campaign.

We will keep everyone posted on upcoming actions.

The Temps

We are the Strangers at the Water Cooler...

Today, we stumbled across an article published by the Ross School of Business called The Stranger at the Water Cooler, which discussed integrating temp workers into the workplace community. We thought it was ironic, given the effort temps at the UM Business school are going through to try and bring themselves into the school's very own workplace community.

The author presented temps as though they choose their own status as sub-workers. As if being a temp, or as the article put it a "free agent," was somehow desirable for the 1/5th of the American workforce relegated to sub-worker status. Carl T. Camden, CEO of a temp company, who was quoted in the article, says "permanent employment already is an oxymoron," highlighting the growing trend of companies using temporary workers as opposed to full-time employees. His position equates being a temporary worker with freedom on the job, attempting to sell the idea (or justify it) by discussing the freedom of the temp to move from organization to organization at will. The idea couldn't fall further from the truth. Workers don't choose to be temps, nor do they choose to leave their jobs. They are forced to take on the temp roll because bosses offer them no other choice and often they lose their jobs when middle management decides they are no longer useful. The temp's condition and their lack of choice emphatically disproves Camden's assertion, and emphasizes the lack of freedom a temp truly has.

Permanent employment is a hallmark of stability. People deserve steady and dependable jobs. Its hard enough living paycheck to paycheck, but the looming possibility of termination and having to jump from job to job is nothing short of a tragedy experienced by today's temporary worker.

SDS To Address Board of Regents on Conditions of UM Temps

A representative from Students for a Democratic Society will be addressing the board of regents this evening and briefly discuss the conditions temp workers face on campus as well as the events that are unfolding between management and workers at the Ross School of Business. We will keep everyone posted.

The Temps

A quick update and a big thanks to the community

The temps at the business school just want to give an update to the community on what's happening so far. We've received phone-ins and email support from the Ann Arbor community, around the country, and around the globe. We've had students come forth and assist with signature collection and engage fellow students on campus about the organizing drive. We've had other workers and other unions lend their thanks and support as well. You're feedback has been essential to keeping this organizing campaign all together. Without you, it wouldn't have been possible. Pat yourselves on the back.

And now for a quick update. We've been running back and forth and emailing management for the last two days trying to bring them to the negotiating table to discuss the issues we raised on Monday. Communication from management has been sporadic. We are under the assumption right now that the Business School wants to frame this as an HR (The Business School's Human Resources department) issue and try to avoid management having to deal with the very policies they have a hand in implementing. We are fully aware that administrators within the business school have the capacity to make the changes we are asking them to make. We just have to convince management of their own capacity to enact them.

So, once again, at this point in the campaign we're trying to put management to task and meet up with us to discuss implementing the issues we've raised. Management seems hesitant to act without HR's approval. That's where we are at as we lead into Wednesday.

We will be sending a few organizers to speak on the 15th at the Campus Unite! rally on the diag. We've got a 5 minute spot and we will engage everyone there on the campaign and give a quick update. Campus groups are calling for the rally to occur at the cube at 2:30PM on the 15th. Look for us there.

The Temps

Email/Phone-In Campaign Ends Tonight

The email and phone-in campaign officially ends tonight (Tuesday, Mar. 13th). We would like to thank everyone who expressed their views to management. Your show of support was instrumental in proving that temps are not alone in their struggle for justice at work. Keep your eyes and ears open for future updates. We will periodically update the public about the status of our meetings with management addressing the issues we raised in our department. Once again, a big thank you to all that participated.

The Temps