Rhode Island School of Design custodians, groundskeepers and movers in the Teamsters Local 251 union began an indefinite labor strike Monday. The workers launched their strike in light of continued disagreements between the union and the school concerning wages in labor contract negotiations, Local 251 Business Agent Tony Suazo told The Herald.
The striking workers held a picket line protest on Monday in support of their demands for increased wages in the new contract. They were joined by student supporters and community members, who carried signs, banged pots and pans, chanted into megaphones and called upon passersby to “skip class” and join in the protests.
The union also parked a two-story-tall inflatable pig wearing a vest labeled “corporate greed” in front of 20 Washington Pl., which houses the office of RISD President Crystal Williams and the RISD Human Resources department.
Monday’s strike continued a process dating back to February 2022 — when workers initially voted to organize with the Teamsters. Negotiations began last June, and in November, the local authorized a strike. Workers first went on strike for 24 hours March 23, The Herald previously reported. The union’s bargaining team and RISD representatives have not met for negotiations since, Suazo said.
A vast majority of employees in the bargaining unit currently make an hourly wage of $15 to $18, Suazo said.
Facilities staff are striking to demand a pay increase that they believe is not adequately addressed in RISD’s most recent contract offer, multiple striking workers told The Herald.
“Hopefully (the strike) won't go for long, but (it will go) for as long as it takes” for the union’s demands to be met, said John Cabral, a RISD grounds caretaker.
Staff will continue to hold picket line protests throughout the strike, Suazo said.
Suazo added that he hopes the strike will encourage the school and the bargaining team to “come to some common ground” over wages in the contract negotiations, bringing forth a proposal that the union’s members would “find acceptable.”
“Wages have been neglected for so many years,” Cabral said. “We’re just trying to catch up.”
“In mid-February, after months of negotiations and several sessions with a federal mediator, RISD presented union leaders with a best and final offer that provides members with pay increases and a strong benefits package,” wrote Danielle Mancuso, a spokesperson for RISD, in an email to The Herald.
“We respect our workers’ right to strike, but it will not resolve this matter,” Mancuso wrote.
“RISD’s last offer is still on the table,” wrote Liz Rainone, director of employment and employee development at RISD, in a March 31 email to students and faculty. “The burden has been and remains on the union to engage in reasonable discussions about wages and benefits.”
According to RISD’s human resources website, the school’s most recent offer would trigger “an immediate increase of wages by more than 10%” in the first year, including “an average of 6% (in) market adjustments and a 4% general wage increase.”
Suazo, though, said the proposed increase was insufficient. “For someone making $15 an hour, a 10% raise is $1.50,” Suazo said.
“Just give us $20 an hour so we can live,” said Vera Correia, a RISD custodian, while standing on the picket line. “We don't ask for much. We don’t want anything else. Keep everything the way it is, but just give us more money so we can survive. ”
Correia also cited other institutions that offer higher wages for custodial workers, including Brown. The University pays newly hired custodial staff $19.40 an hour, according to their collective bargaining agreement with the United Service and Allied Workers of Rhode Island, the union that represents employees in the Department of Facilities Management.
In a March 24 email to RISD students and faculty, Williams wrote that the union’s response to RISD’s most recent offer “included excessive demands for wages and benefits.”
The union placed a two-story-tall inflatable pig wearing a vest labeled “corporate greed” in front of 20 Washington Pl., which houses the office of RISD President Crystal Williams and the RISD Human Resources department.
“While we are committed to reaching an agreement with these valued employees that fairly compensates them for the services they perform, as a nonprofit we must steward our resources responsibly and in accord with our compensation and benefits philosophy for all staff members,” Williams wrote in the email.
“The fact that they haven't moved (on wages) is because they've chosen not to move,” Suazo said. “This is just a very rich school saying that they're not rich.”
In the 2022 fiscal year, RISD’s projected budget surplus was $1.75 million, according to the school’s financial reports.
“We haven't been treated right,” said Claudia Hernandez, a RISD custodian on the picket line.
Hernandez added that she feels that she and her coworkers are under constant surveillance from managers to ensure they are working: “We cannot even drink water. We have to wait for our break,” she said, while on the picket line.
RISD did not respond directly to these claims, instead referring The Herald to a previous statement sent by the school that also did not address these claims or discuss workplace issues.
Students who joined the picket line in support of the striking staff told The Herald that they believed the school had an obligation to meet the workers’ demands.
“I care about and I think it is imperative that a caring institution provides livable wages to … those important people that keep facilities running and are the faces that RISD folk see our most immediate community,” wrote Mara Gemeda-Breka, a student at RISD who attended the picket line protest, in an email to The Herald.
“You see on a day-to-day (basis) your tuition dollars being spent” elsewhere, said Ella Babb, another RISD student on the picket line. “It's hard not to think about how all of that money could be going towards helping the people that actually help run this school.”
Cabral added that he hoped continued pressure on the RISD administration would bring them “back to the table.”
The striking workers held a picket line protest throughout the day in support of their demands for increased wages in the new contract.
“The only way that anything is actually going to get done is when campus activities are actually disrupted,” Babb said. “Like students actually showing up here, choosing not to come to class.”
Striking RISD staff shared that they have received support from students, faculty, other non-faculty staff members and from the broader community — but they say they have not received the same support from the RISD administration.
“I just want (RISD administrators) to realize we are essential workers,” Correia said. “We work hard. We clean. They work in the office. I'm not complaining about my job, but we work hard, and I just think we deserve better.”
Clarification: One sentence about working conditions was rephrased for clarity.
Ashley Cai is a Senior Staff Writer from Los Altos, California covering the staff and student labor beat. She is a Brown-RISD Dual Degree studying computer science, IAPA and graphic design. She is also a member of The Herald's Tech Team.
