Chancellor Mark Wrighton rejected a proposed wage raise for service workers at Washington University yesterday, saying the University must respect a “competitive” payment policy.

After four months of deliberation, Wrighton did not accept suggestions from the May 2004 Task Force report asking the University to reconsider its principles and guidelines for basic service contracts.

Wrighton said yesterday in a written statement that University officials would not be “responsible stewards” of tuition-paying students’ money if they paid wages “that exceed the prevailing wage in the St. Louis market.”

Instead of paying workers the higher-than-average wages recommended by the task force, the University will remain “competitive” with local salaries for comparable work.

Wrighton said the University is not the only party responsible for taking care of service workers.

“The wages and benefits provided to contract workers are the responsibility of the firms that employ them,” he wrote.

Nevertheless, the University “remains committed to being a premier place to work,” sometimes engaging contractors who are not the “low bidder.”

Originally, the Task Force convened in response to outrage over the deportation of 36 Nicaraguan workers last November. The Chancellor invited representatives from the Student-Worker Alliance (SWA) as well as faculty members and other students to work with the University and propose realistic solutions to the issue.

Students are already questioning why the Chancellor called for a task force, only to ignore their recommendations.

“I am so disappointed,” said senior Janine Brito, arts and events planning head for the SWA. “I think on our campus the school takes the stance that our University is a caring and fair institution. There is an environment saying that the workers are equal members of our community. If so, they should financially support our workers. Workers cannot survive on appreciation alone.”

The University defended its decision.

“The University believes that we should offer a competitive wage and that those wages should be consistent with the St. Louis economy and the prevailing wages in this region,” said spokesman Frederic Volkmann.

To ensure comparable wages, the University is establishing a forum of administrators who will engage with outside firms to “assess the St. Louis market with respect to compensation and benefits for contract workers,” wrote Wrighton.

The results of these investigations will be used in future hiring procedures, in conjunction with information from the employers themselves.

“The fact that [Chancellor Wrighton] is going to maintain the status quo-if other people are doing it then we can do it too-that’s not what we’ve been taught at this University,” said senior Danielle Christmas, a member of the SWA’s steering committee. “I wanted to see the chancellor step up ethically and say that despite the fact that workers were mistreated in the [St. Louis] area that Washington University was held to a higher standard.”

Volkmann insisted that the University has not lowered its standards.

“We want to have persons working with us at the University who are appreciated and who provide the same level of service and concern for the students and faculty and staff that all other employees provide,” said Volkmann.

Members of the SWA are disputing that the University cannot spare the money to raise workers’ wages.

“I would also ask the chancellor if he has had any pay increases in the past few years,” said Christmas. “Has his work gotten increasingly difficult or have they been personal rewards for a job well done? If [the workers] are doing the same thing, why can’t they receive the same dignity and respect? That’s not acceptable.”

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