USD staff are looking to unionize

Why the @usdclericalworkers on Instagram should catch your eye

Megan Valadez / Asst. Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

A new Instagram account was created recently called @usdclericalworkers. This anonymous Instagram account  announced that they plan to unionize. According to their account, they believe this labor movement aligns with the values of the university and will benefit USD by strengthening an essential workforce at the foundation of university operations.
A clerical worker ensures that an office or other location runs smoothly and efficiently. USD “clerical workers” include positions such as executive assistants, administrative assistants, program coordinators, program managers, office managers, and many others. 

USD clerical workers are truly the blood, sweat, and tears of this campus and do not receive a livable wage. I’ve worked in a department office on campus for the duration of my four years at USD where I have learned what truly goes into the behind the scenes of running a department. I work 12 hours a week and make $15 an hour. It’s unbelievable to think that someone in a position higher than mine almost makes the same amount of money per hour, despite their tasks being much more time consuming and difficult. 

From a job listing of Executive Assistants (EAs) posted to insidehighered.com, Executive Assistants duties and responsibilities include: being responsible for monitoring all incoming documents and cases for the department; completing and distributing electronic forms via the USD website and student portal; supervising and training Student Assistants; reviewing files to ensure completion; maintaining office supply inventory and maintenance of office machinery; updating staff directories; and maintaining and monitoring student files in storage facilities. For this job, a bachelor’s degree and a minimum of two years office support experience is required. 

The main issue USD clerical workers are facing is a systemic undervaluing of the essential labor they do around campus. Because of this undervaluing, USD clerical workers have begun to use UCSD’s clerical workers collective bargaining agreement as a roadmap for what they believe is necessary and reasonable for USD clerical workers. Most of UCSD’s staff, 115,172 employees to be exact, are represented through one of fifteen unions on campus. UCSD has committed to providing fair compensation and benefits to its employees, therefore they are able to join bargaining units that currently exist in America, depending on their line of work. 

For comparison, from the powerpoint slides linked on the @usdclericalworkers Instagram bio line, UCSD EA’s starting wage ranges from $24.50-$29.50 per hour, whereas USD Executive Assistants are making anywhere from $18.50-$23.50 per hour. Similarly, at another private college, Loyola Marymount University, Administrative Assistants make around $24.50 per hour, or $32,114 per year, according to glassdoor.com. USD only pays its clerical workers for 37.5 hours per week of work, despite working overtime or completing tasks on their own time.

USD clerical workers are also demanding a wage adjustment for folks who have worked their jobs for several years and a yearly raise of at least 3%. Right now, raises are dependent on performance evaluations completed by bosses.

USD is supposedly all about inclusion and changemaking, but the treatment of clerical workers is not reflective of that whatsoever. If USD wants to continue to expand access and demonstrate inclusivity to all students and advance educational equity, they need to ensure that not just students and professors are well taken care of, but all staff. If USD wants to continue to be a changemaker campus, one that is focused on social change, innovation, and empowerment, then they need to put their money where their mouth is and create positive change for their employees. 

According to propublica.org and nonprofitlight.com, President Harris made over a million dollars in the 2019-20 fiscal year, which is more than the chancellor of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) makes. While our world and USD community was suffering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Harris took a $462,000 pay increase in comparison to the previous fiscal year. At the same time, essential workers on campus were stuck with stagnant wages. I am engulfed with rage knowing that President Harris is a millionaire while I know for a fact that clerical workers on campus work 100 times harder than he does. 

According to testimonies posted on @usdclericalworkers Instagram page, EA’s find themselves having to live with multiple roommates if they are single because San Diego rent is exponentially increasing. USD Executive Assistants make around $38,000 per year, which is not a livable wage whatsoever, in San Diego or in California. According to job postings posted to USD’s website and from the @usdclericalworkers story highlight posted on April 16th, USD also wants most office employees, such as EA’s, to have a bachelor’s degree, only to make anywhere between $18-$20 an hour.

In another testimony posted to the Instagram account on April 10, despite receiving great performance reviews, an employee has only had less than a dollar raise after working at the position for almost four years. This employee stated “merit raises do not account for cost of living and after a continuous increase in minimum wage, my student worker is almost catching up to my pay! The increase in workload without consent or even ability to say how we feel or think about the changes adds to a stressful work environment.” 

Times are changing and USD needs to treat their employees with more respect and pay them what they deserve to be paid. They do all of the hard work, always greeting students with a smile on their faces, while on the other hand, I have never seen President Harris or any of the Deans or Provosts on campus. 
Clerical workers on campus deserve to be paid fair and livable wages and if you do not agree with me, think again before you walk into an office and give attitude to the person behind the desk, or before you get up from a table at the SLP without cleaning up after yourself.