Crisis of Democracy: Virginia Hunger Strike
On March 1, 2012, a hunger strike consisting of 26 students at the University of Virginia came to a close. TheLiving Wage Campaign made an unprecedented decision to initiate a hunger strike to achieve its goals of raising worker wages from the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr to to $13/hr. Though the University has a minimum rate of $10.65, this official rate does not apply to contracted workers that fall outside of this stipulated minimum. Contracted workers imply temp laborers supplied by staffing agencies such as those run by Schneider Logistics who coordinates manual moving labor for Wal-Mart’s supply chain. It’s a clever way of getting around regulatory mechanisms established for humanitarian purposes.
Let’s examine what is going on at the University. The Living Wage Campaign “declared a hunger strike to publicize the unjust wages paid to UVA employees, and to urge the administration to take action on this issue.” Twenty-six students denied themselves nourishment for 13 days to make a statement about injustice. Blacks and latinos living below poverty is alright because it’s “part of the plan,” but well-off students at an elite university
