Approximately 70 people attended the 30-minute protest organized by Dartmouth Students Stand with Staff. Many protestors carried signs reading "Dartmouth, Inc.," "Worker's rights are human rights" and "What is the return on our ethical profile?"
As the College seeks to adjust its spending, the "least paid staff members" are suffering the most, Chris Peck, Service Employees International Union Local 560 vice president, said.
"We feel the direction the College is going follows the corporate model," Peck said.
The protest followed the submission of a petition signed by 410 students to College President Jim Yong Kim by Students Stand with Staff two weeks ago. The petition "demanded" that the College "restore pre-January 2011 health care benefits for all Dartmouth staff" and "stop subcontracting jobs," according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Dartmouth.
The purpose of the protest was to demonstrate additional support for the demands articulated in the petition, according to Students Stand with Staff co-founder Phoebe Gardener '11.
"We want to show that we're still here, we're still fighting and we're not going away," she said.
Budget Manager Judy Stabolepszy and Budget and Financial Planning Analyst Steve LeBlanc did not return requests for comment by press time. Assistant Vice President of Finance Kevin Weinman declined to comment for this article.
Administrators responded to the petition last week by scheduling a meeting with the Students Stand with Staff representatives to discuss the group's grievances on Wednesday, Gardener said. The organization met with administrators in January 2010, but Gardener said the meeting was largely unsuccessful in reaching Students Stand with Staff's goals.
"It was a very demoralizing and difficult meeting," Gardener said. "They were very condescending, and basically said, How cute of you guys to be doing this.'"
In an effort to bridge the $100-million budget gap, employees' health care plans were reduced by $15 million beginning in January 2011, costing workers up to $4,000 a year, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Administrators attempted to preserve "academics and the high quality of the student experience" throughout the Strategic Budget Reduction and Investment process, Justin Anderson, director of media relations for the College, said in an email to The Dartmouth.
"The College sought to equitably distribute health care costs through progressive cost sharing of premiums, meaning employees pay a proportional share based on income," Anderson said. "The College tried to minimize the number of lay-offs wherever possible and respected all labor contracts. We look forward to meeting with members of Students Standing with Staff later this week."
The cuts should be distributed more equitably to all groups across campus, several members of Students Stand with Staff said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "The president makes over $700,000," Gardener said. "That's a crazy salary and his pay was not cut."
Kim's salary figure is reported from a Form 990 tax filing for the year ending on June 30, 2010, which predates the staff benefits reduction, according to a statement from College Trustee Ed Haldeman '70 and released to The Dartmouth.
Kim received a total compensation of $612,768 for the 2009 calendar year, according to the Form 990. That figure, however, only represents Kim's first five months of employment at the College because he began his presidency on July 1, 2009. During that time, Kim's base salary was $419,754, and he received a $100,000 "bonus and incentive compensation," the Form 990 said.
Eli Lichtenstein '13, a member of Students Stand with Staff, questioned whether the College should spend money on "superfluous projects" like the Baker Library and Hanover Inn renovations.
"When you are cutting the benefits of workers, you cannot justify these projects," Lichtenstein said. "We need to decide what our financial priorities are and ensure that every worker is treated as a human being."
Under the revised health care plan, all employees have the same insurance plan, according to a statement released by the College on May 30. As of January 1, 2011, employees pay an amount of their health insurance "based on their salary range from $20,000 from $200,000," according to the statement. Employees who make more money annually pay more of their premiums, the statement said.
Various staff members have told Students Stand with Staff representatives that they are paying "thousands of dollars more a year for health care," Gardener said. Peck said the cost of health care for his family has increased "drastically" under the new plan.
As part of a further effort to reduce costs, Dartmouth has subcontracted jobs in Thompson Arena, the Hanover Inn, the Dartmouth Skiway and the Berry News Center's new cafe, Peck said.
No jobs have been lost due to the use of outside contractors and employee hours have not been reduced, according to the College's statement. Using outside contractors allows a given division to "focus on its primary mission at the College," the statement said.
"For example, the primary mission of Dartmouth Dining Services is to provide dining hall services to our students," the statement said. "It is not part of its primary mission to provide specialty retail food venues at satellite locations."
Outside management systems have decreased workers' retirement benefits at the Hanover Inn, and contractors at the new Berry News Center cafe will not hire any current Dartmouth employees, Peck said.
"There are employees who were previously laid off in other parts of the College," Gardener said. "Why can't they be hired back to work in the cafe?"
Students Stand with Staff members also expressed dissatisfaction with the administration beyond the reductions to workers' health care benefits.
"We are really opposed to tuition prices and the new dining plan," Lichtenstein said. "These are other examples of the administration acting in an authoritarian manner. We should be voices in the decision-making process."
A Students Stand with Staff leaflet circulated at the protest said the recent 5.9-percent increase in tuition, room, board and fees for the 2011-2012 academic year and the reinstitution of student loans are "linked" to the reduction in worker benefits because the changes also "hurt the working and middle classes."
