As student representatives on the Advisory Committee on Business Practices, we went to our first meeting cautious, but hopeful. Last spring, the long sought-after Just Employment Policy was adopted and now we face the challenge of implementing it.

Through conversations with workers we have become aware of many discrepancies in the first steps of its implementation over the summer.

As members of Georgetown Solidarity Committee tried to arrange English as a Second Language classes, to which the policy entitles subcontracted workers, they heard from workers that the management of P&R Enterprises was threatening to fire workers who attended classes during their work hours. Contracted workers are permitted to use their lunch breaks or take 20-minute breaks for ESL, and the new policy makes this the standard for subcontracted workers as well.

Certain employees have not received their full pay increase either. Allied guards’ wages have gone up merely seven cents, and a temporary contractor failed to pay their employees anything at all for three weeks over the summer.

All this information is known thanks to the dedication of students who maintain close relationships with workers. No grievance procedure, not even a temporary one, is in place thus far. Considering that intimidation and withholding pay and benefits are occurring, it is clear that such a safeguard is imperative. Workers need an independent body to which they feel safe approaching with their concerns.

Another concern of workers and the students involved in the committee is the lack of administration transparency.

In our first meeting we were presented with a graph of wage and benefit increases, categorized by contractor. The names of the contractors were not used and, although the “benefit rate” was given for each employer, there was no indication of what these benefits were. After being pressed, Senior Vice President Spiros Dimolitsas enumerated several of the benefits offered. The designated increase in compensation for workers indicates a level of total compensation, including benefits. Therefore the student representatives would like to see a detailed breakdown of how much each benefit counts toward the total package.

We wish to ensure that workers receive the benefits they need, such as health care and child care, and that fillers like free hotel stays are not making up the bulk of the benefits. Vice President Dimolitsas failed to see the necessity of such transparency and argued that the committee should not become an auditing group. We do not wish to audit to find out if the university is charged inappropriately for services; we simply wish to protect the workers’ best interests, which is always our primary goal.

It is clear that more work needs to be done to protect students’ voices within the committee. We put our hearts and soul into this work and deserve to be treated with the same respect that “adult” members of the committee are granted.

Katy Berglund-Schlesinger is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service and is a member of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee and the Advisory Committee on Business Practices.