Via VirginiaSports.comFor more than a week now, 18 students at the University of Virginia have been on a hunger strike to protest what they see as unacceptably low wages paid to hourly employees on the Charlottesville campus. Among the protesters is Joseph Williams, a safety for Virginia’s football team.
Williams, a junior who walked on to the Cavaliers defense a few years ago, has found it easy to sympathize with the many contracted workers who earn just $7.25 per hour. In a blog post written for the website of the filmmaker and activist Michael Moore, Williams wrote, “Growing up, I moved over 30 times—including various stays in homeless shelters, the homes of family friends, and church basements. As a result of these experiences, I know firsthand what the economic struggle is like for many of these underpaid workers.”
Of course, depriving oneself of food—whether its for wage increases or D.C voting rights—carries a range of health concerns, perhaps more so for Williams given his role in the Cavaliers’ defensive playbook. Williams’ participation in the hunger strike, which began February 17, aroused some suspicion on the part of his coaches, he told the Post last week. While he said he’s worried it might affect his place on the football team—he’s on a financial, not athletic scholarship—”that’s something I’m willing to sacrifice,” Williams told the Post.
Williams’ hunger strike is organized by the Living Wage Campaign, a student group that for more than a decade has pushed to get the University of Virginia to pay its hourly employees more. (A similar hunger strike took place at Georgetown in 2005; after 10 days, the administration acquiesced to protester demands for living wages for university employees.) At the same time, six of the state’s 10 best-compensated employees work at the university, including Williams’ defensive coordinator James Reid, who draws an annual salary of $356,000. Head Coach Mike London earns $2.1 million a year, but the vast majority is paid out of a private fund that supports Virginia athletics.
The Living Wage Campaign has complained that in the past it has been snubbed by university administrators. It’s almost a bit uncouth to say, but perhaps Williams’ involvement in this hunger strike has raised the group’s profile enough to finally get a meeting with decision-makers. The university’s president, Teresa Sullivan met with the group early this morning. The hunger strike, though, is still ongoing.
