Legislation supporting student worker unionization divides SGA senate; Student workers are indifferent

  A proclamation in support of student worker unionization was passed on April 14 by the Student Government Association (SGA) senate. The senate is divided, but many student workers are seemingly indifferent.

  The passing of this proclamation means SGA will officially declare their support for student workers on campus to unionize.

  The proclamation, titled “The Establishment of a Union for Student Workers,” was published alongside a similar allocation and resolution. The senate tabled the resolution, which would form a committee to assist in the creation of a union, with a 14-11 vote. The proclamation passed by a vote of 19-5.

  Speaker of the Senate Andrew Tracey decided not to present the allocation, which would ration the funds for a unionization, due to “legal implications we [SGA] have not cleared up yet with spending student money on unionization or unionization efforts.”

  SGA Senator David Seaton, the author of these legislations, said he is “unhappy” that the resolution was tabled. Senator Seaton said he has “been a supporter of unions for some time” and that the contents of these legislations were one of the main policies he campaigned on. 

  Kyle Smith, the chair of senate resolutions, voted to table the resolution and against passing the proclamation. “Now is really not the time to try to establish a student union,” he said. “I opposed that [proclamation] because I don’t think that a union is appropriate [at] a public university such as UMKC.” 

  Despite the discourse amongst the senate, some student workers on campus don’t seem convinced that a union would benefit them.

  “I don’t see a reason I guess. I don’t think it really affects me,” said a student worker who asked to remain anonymous.

  Another student worker who asked to remain anonymous said they “don’t have enough knowledge on the topic of unions to give a good standpoint.”

  Lily Page, a student worker at the UMKC Media Lab, said she doesn’t feel joining a union is a necessity for her. “I feel like my needs are fully met,” she said. “I may consider joining but I don’t know enough about it right now.”

  Senator Seaton specifically brings up the point of international students, who can not be employed outside of campus, in his argument. Seaton said that many of these positions pay below-market wages, and these students “have absolutely no one to stand up for them.”

  Page said she believes international student workers should be paid at least minimum wage. “I mean that’s ridiculous. Just because they’re not from this country and this is their only option to work, they shouldn’t be paid less because they’re still human, they still have the same amount of skills, and everything to be qualified to have a job.”

  Senator Smith said he sympathizes with international students not being able to work in this country, but that this “unfortunate circumstance” is “just reality.”

  “A union wouldn’t just invent more money for student workers to get employed,” said Smith. “This would have effects that are not immediately apparent.”

  Prior to voting, Senator Emily He raised her concerns about the wording of the legislation “with all the quotes and then a couple typos.” All three pieces of legislation contained quotes from Eugene V. Debs, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Karl Marx and Fredrick Engles.

  “I personally don’t think that the way this proclamation was worded is an appropriate representation of the sentiment of the students at large,” said Senator Smith, specifically mentioning the quotes used.

  Speaker Tracey clarified that SGA will not use the exact proclamation to declare their support. “There will be a more formal statement created,” he said.

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