The Mountain View Room saw several student workers gathering to discuss how to improve working conditions.
On March 2, members of the Monadnock Autonomous Student Union (MASU) organized a meeting for people to bring snacks, discuss their on-campus jobs and brainstorm improvements to make in the workplace.
The MASU is “A self-governing organization focused on bettering the lives of students across the Monadnock region,” according to zines available at the potluck. It is student-led and aims to open up discussion and create change regarding student life and politics.
“I think it’s a really interesting organization,” said first-year Lonny Smith. “Since it’s not affiliated with Keene State it gives the organization a lot of freedom.”
“I’d love to … have something like this happen on a regular basis,” Smith continued,. “I think there are a lot of student workers who would like their voices to be heard.”
The event gave students a free space to discuss their jobs on campus and any positive or negative experiences they might have had. The goal of the discussion was to be able to gather information from student workers to accurately reflect their opinions in discussions about how student jobs could be improved.
“I was in my research and writing class and I asked how much the tutors would make. And the professors who teach that class … said 9 dollars, and I make 10 dollars at the archive. And I was like, this is bad,” said sophomore Dexter Keegan, who helped organized the event.
Much of the student-led discussion was focused on on wages and the quality of raises. However, students also discussed lack of solidarity with coworkers, poor cleanliness in the workplace and difficulty communicating with their superiors.
The discussion also brought up state funding of public colleges and the effect it might have on student working conditions as well as the working conditions of college staff.
“The discussion was great … one new person in the Discord server and notes on what to do next is a success in my book,” said Keegan. “The follow-up to this meeting, I will figure out what to do next…”
The event wrapped up with Keegan planning to host a follow-up to discuss the next steps in improving the conditions of student jobs based on what had been discussed.
“The turnout today was great, I’m very happy that…more than five people showed up,” said sophomore Fynn Stauber who helped to organize the event. “I’m very excited to see more movement with student workers and us really communicating with each other about problems across departments.”
Orion Corbin can be contacted at
ocorbin@kscequinox.com
