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Stanford Students Sit-in for Worker’s Rights

Stanford student protestors speak out against subcontracted labor outside Stanford Medical Center. Photo by Austin Burke

By Benjamin King

Some say Asian Pacific Americans are apathetic. Tell that to Bryan Kim and Kuusela Hilo, chair of Stanford’s Asian American Student Association and Pilipino American Student Union respectively, two of the six students who were arrested in an act of civil disobedience on Nov. 29 at Stanford University Hospital.

The six student activists were arrested at the office of Stanford Medical Center’s Vice President for General Services Louis Saksen, while protesting a recent decision to subcontract labor at Stanford Hospital.

Saksen recently made the decision to subcontract 10 new housekeeping openings at Stanford Hospital much to the dismay of workers’ rights groups.

Subcontracting is the practice where an entity, such as a hospital or company, hires an intermediary company to handle a certain aspect of their business for a fixed fee. Through subcontracting, Stanford Hospital would not have to hire an entire housekeeping workforce, manage these workers or negotiate with workers unions. Because the contracted company takes a share of the money — the workers take a pay cut. Typically, these companies do not allow for workers unions, and provide little or no benefits to employees. Moreover, the companies pay their employees significantly lower wages.

Members of the Stanford Labor Action Committee (SLAC), who organized the rally to protest the unfair labor practices last Thursday, cited the average wage of $8/hour that entry-level full-time subcontracted workers earn as compared to the union workers’ $12.58/hour wage. They estimate that with the standard of living in Palo Alto being as high as it is, subcontract workers would have to take two other jobs to support a family.

Mónica Henestroza was escorted away from the Stanford Hospital by the Palo Alto Police. Photo by Keith Ito/The Stanford Daily

Mónica Henestroza, co-coordinator of SLAC and also one of the arrested students, said that human rights should not be sacrificed in order to save a couple of dollars. Henestroza said, “Subcontracting is an issue of human dignity and university accountability; a presumably world-class educational institution such as Stanford, which claims to serve humankind, should not sacrifice either one.”

Henestroza also noted a racial component, whether conscious or unconscious, to the lack of attention the issue is being given by the Stanford administration. “Ninety-nine percent of the housekeeping workers are people of color, while the administrators who continue to place these workers as a low priority are white,” she added.

According to Henestroza, in October over 100 community members, including workers, students, patients, faculty and staff, asked Saksen and Stanford University President John Hennessey to hold meetings to discuss the expansion of subcontracting. They were ignored but continued their efforts by presenting a 350-signature petition opposing Stanford’s labor practices.

Two days before the arrests, Saksen finally held a meeting with some students, but those at the meeting said that they were treated disrespectfully and that he was not receptive to any of their concerns.

The students stress that they did not go to the hospital on Nov. 29 with the intention of being arrested. They remained peaceful throughout the protest, but were placed under citizen’s arrest after refusing to leave a hallway in the administrative section of the hospital.

Henestroza said, “We stayed until the last minute legally possible to impress upon Saksen that this issue was not only widely felt, as evidenced by the approximately 150 protestors outside Stanford Hospital, but also that student leaders were willing to put themselves on the line [for] labor justice.”

Ruthann Richter, director of media relations at Stanford Medical Center, said that Saksen had indeed met with the students and listened carefully to their concerns. She added however, “[Stanford Medical Center is] under a tremendous amount of financial pressure for a variety of reasons and this is one of the many steps we’re taking to reduce costs.”

According to Saksen, the money saved will represent less than 1 percent of the budget cuts Stanford Hospital is enacting to bring their finances back into the black — which seems to nullify the argument for subcontracting.

Kim stated, “I feel an imperative responsibility … to protect our brothers and sisters who are made invisible by the model minority myth. We cannot forget of the marginalized groups in our own community who continue to struggle.”

Of the approximately 99 to 100 percent of the housekeeping staff who are people of color, about one third are APA. Most of the workers are first generation immigrants and may have limited English skills. Therefore, they are forced to take jobs such as these that limit their rights as workers.

Hilo added, “Many of [the APA workers] are Filipino Americans. [Stanford has] no commitment and accountability to the diversity of the students and workers who are an integral and vibrant part of the Stanford community.”

Student leaders will push for the 30 day escape clause that the hospital has to back out of the contract with the housekeeping company.

Owen Li, co-chair of the Stanford Asian American Activist Coalition (SAAAC) commented that while the civil disobedience was not planned, the situation called for it at the time. Li said proudly, “Saksen believes that the housekeeping staff, many of them immigrants, were powerless to defend themselves. We’re proving him wrong.”