rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/united-student-workers-of-berea-support-letter?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-united-student-workers-of-berea-support-letter' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> United Student Workers of Berea https://actionnetwork.org/groups/united-student-workers-of-berea https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/293/951/original/USWB_OG_Image.png?1708017620 Dear President Nixon and Board of Trustees, We, the undersigned Berea College faculty, are calling on you to support the United Student Workers of Berea (USWB-CWA), remain neutral leading up to the union election, and agree to negotiate in good faith. We, as a community, find their efforts consistent with Berean principles and values, past and present. As President Cheryl Nixon has stated, “At Berea College, our Great Commitments are our North Star, our inspirational principles. Through the Great Commitments, we know who we are and the ideals we serve—and this sense of greater purpose guides us every day.” As Berea College faculty, we align with President Nixon’s articulation and agree with her description of the importance of these principles for Berea College’s identity and actions, both on and off campus. One commitment in particular addresses the dignity of labor, stating: “Berea College commits itself to promote the learning and serving in community through the student Labor Program, honoring the dignity and utility of all work, mental and manual, and taking pride in work well done.” Our view is that the principle of dignity of labor must also correspond to an equal dignity of the laborers. While the vital importance of student labor for operating the institution is unquestionable, there is reason to question the individual and collective treatment of labor students concerning equity, safety, and fairness. As an institution of higher education, we admit that even work done well always has room for improvement (as evidenced by regular assessment, curricular revisions, accreditation, etc.). Our Labor Program is no exception. While we express our support and gratitude to the Labor Office staff and labor supervisors around campus, we acknowledge the need for reasonable improvement. Dignity of the laborers arises from their sense of agency, inclusion in decision-making, and the institution demonstrating that it values them collectively and individually in the workplace. We also believe this outcome aligns with the Berean principles and values expressed in our other Great Commitments as well. The ideals of impartial love, human dignity, equal opportunity, gender equality, service to Appalachians, the welfare and wellness of one another, racial equality, interracial community, along with the engagement in and application of a liberal arts education—all of which are found in the other seven Great Commitments—fit appropriately well with the egalitarian foundation of unionized labor. Our hope and intent are to collaborate with students and the administration to see these efforts come to fruition frictionlessly for their benefit, the good of the Labor Program, and the betterment of our campus community and unique educational institution as a whole. We look forward to you arriving at the correct decision to support the union, remain neutral leading to the election, and negotiate in good faith, setting an example for what honoring and respecting the dignity of labor looks like in practice. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/united-student-workers-of-berea-support-letter