An open letter to the underpaid student workers of Plymouth State

Andi Marie Tisdell

She/Her

Contributor

4/25/24

Dear student workers,

You don’t get paid enough. Let’s ignore the fact that, as a student employee of Plymouth State University, you almost certainly don’t make a livable wage, or even a wage that could pay for tuition (let alone room and board). You’re not paid enough because the pay rate stays flat. By not providing pay raises to keep pace with inflation, PSU is paying students less over time. 

Let’s take a topical example. The cost of attending and living at PSU is estimated to increase by about 4.4% next year. That shouldn’t come as a surprise; inflation affects universities too. However, that should mean wages are increasing comparably. They are not. 

This is not to say raises are unheard of on campus, they’re just rare. Makerspace Attendants, the student staff who oversee Plymouth’s prized space in Draper Maynard, will be getting a $0.25 raise if they stay on next semester. However, a $0.25 raise does not keep pace with inflation and the growing cost of coming to Plymouth. By failing to raise pay, the University is telling us they do not value our work and effort. The message is loud and clear. They don’t care if people can pay to go to their school.

That seems like a dumb statement; the University has supports in place to try to help students pay. However, the best support they could ever put in place is raising wages. After all, a lack of a “raise” means we are being paid less. For compensation to be equal, pay must rise with inflation.

So, what do we do?

Well, I asked my supervisor for a raise. He told me it wasn’t in the budget. My more than thirty coworkers in admissions will all be making $10 per hour again next year. A raise is not in the budget because we have not demanded one. One person asking for a raise can’t do much. As an individual, they can’t demand higher pay. A group – all tour guides, for example – can demand higher pay. They have the power to threaten to withhold work. In the tour guide example, if our demand for higher pay was rejected, we could collectively not work an admissions event (an open house or Accepted Students Day). Without our labor, those events could not function. Eventually, they would have to raise pay.

If it sounds like I’m describing a union going on strike, it’s because I am. Student worker unions across the country have been forming, striking if necessary, and winning. The Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers just won $13.50 base pay for all student workers (not just dining workers). University of New Hampshire graduate workers voted yes to a union at the end of March. Dartmouth dining workers have $21.50 base pay for dining workers. All of these groups won big by working together.

We could do the same. 

Sincerely, 

A fellow underpaid worker

P.S.

I love my job. I’m sure some folks will read this and see it as me just complaining about my job. If I didn’t like it I’d leave. I write this because I love it, and want to be able to continue. Still, you can’t eat love. Love doesn’t pay the bills.

Andi Marie Tisdell ’27 is an English education major and theatre minor. She works as a tour guide, for the Office of Environmental Sustainability, and is the president of Common Ground.