On Wednesday, the LSU Living Wages Now Campaign had its first visual effort to raise the wages of dining service employees. Eight members of the group stood outside the Tiger Lair in the Union and held signs in protest of wages they say are too low for employees to live adequately. The campaign’s initiative and refusal to succumb to apathy sets it apart from many student organizations on campus, but this protest in particular will likely have little effect on the group’s cause. Eight people standing in protest is easy for our administration to ignore. If Living Wages wants to raise the amount paid to dining service employees, it would be best to go straight to the top and talk to Chartwells Corporation directly. The group has spoken to Mark Kraner, director of Auxiliary Services which oversees dining services at the University, and Kraner told The Daily Reveille he is “all for” raising living wages for dining service employees. But the University can do little about raising the wages these employees receive because they are hired through Chartwells. Chartwells is where the group’s focus should be. If Living Wages presented Chartwells representatives with a definitive argument for why these employees deserve to receive more money, it would be harder to ignore than Wednesday’s protest, which has had little immediate effect. Perhaps the best way to go about it is to have the workers themselves join in telling Chartwells that the wages they receive are simply not enough. Without input from those directly affected by the wages, the struggle to raise their pay will inevitably whither away. We are not saying, however, that Living Wages should back away from protesting a situation it deems unacceptable. In fact, we encourage them to continue its efforts. Anytime this campus is engaged in a civil and well-reasoned debate about an important social issue, it is only in the best interest of the University, which strives to educate us both in and out of the classroom. Keep fighting the good fight Living Wages. It’s good to see University students speaking on behalf of someone besides themselves.
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