GU Makes Wage Offer As Protest Continues

Faster Increase, Other Benefits Proposed

The eighth day of a hunger strike by Georgetown University students passed without a resolution yesterday as a cold rain fell on the protesters' tent, soggy and patched with duct tape. But the day was not without a step forward, in the form of an offer from the university.

After three years of protests and talks with university officials, students seeking a "living wage" of nearly $15 an hour minimum for contract workers -- mostly janitors, security and food-service employees -- started a hunger strike March 15. Since then, more than 20 students have sipped water and juice and rallied from a white bubble tent in the center of campus.

Last night, the university took a step toward the students' demands, suggesting that wages be increased more quickly and offering other concessions. Students did not respond immediately to phone calls seeking comment on the proposals.

Last night, the university approved a proposal by university Vice President Spiros Dimolitsas that would increase the total compensation for full-time contract workers to $13 an hour by July 1, and to $14 an hour by July 2007. It also would ensure that workers can freely associate and organize without intimidation; that workers can file grievances; and that the university provide other resources to contract workers such as English as a Second Language courses, financial planning information and library privileges.

Dimolitsas wrote in his letter to university officials, "Two days ago, in his State of the City speech, Mayor Anthony Williams proposed a Washington, D.C. 'living wage' ordinance of $9.50 per hour with health benefits and $10.50 without. Clearly, the approach we have developed . . . significantly exceeds regional norms and practice, and is consistent with our Catholic and Jesuit identity."

Still, he acknowledged, issues remain -- including details about union organizing, formulas for determining wage increases after 2008, annual adjustments for university employees and whether the pay rate should reflect the cost of living in the city itself or in the region.

"I think you have to give the students credit for their commitment to the issue," said university spokeswoman Julie Green Bataille. They gave momentum to an issue that the university had been talking about for several years, she said.