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Goat of Labor Award Given to Ithaca College

Contributed by Zillah Eisenstein on 09/09/09 

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The Tompkins County Workers' Center has given Ithaca College the terrible distinction of receiving this year's "Goat of Labor Award."

 

This award was given due to the college's outsourcing of non-union, non-local labor on its $64.5 million Athletics and Events Center.  The business manager of Laborers Local Union 785 wished that, given the 10% unemployment rate, local labor had been used.  I concur. Our obligation to our local community should be honored.

Topic: Archive
Goat of Labor Award Given to Ithaca College | 3 Comments |
The following comments are the opinions of the individuals who posted them. They do not necessarily represent the position of Intercom or Ithaca College, and the editors reserve the right to monitor and delete comments that violate College policies.
Goat of Labor Award Given to Ithaca College Comment from cdennis on 09/10/09
I agree. The position of Ithaca College as a primary employer in this region carries with it a responsibility to the community and those who live within it.
Carole Dennis
Goat of Labor Award Given to Ithaca College Comment from naeem on 09/11/09
This is just the latest in IC's long tradition of atrocious labor policies. A well deserved award.
Goat of Labor Award Given to Ithaca College Comment from jfisher3 on 09/17/09
I would like to hear someone from the administration voice their side of the story. Though I agree that IC (and Cornell of course) has an obligation to the community, one cannot overlook that IC also has an obligation to students to provide them the best value for their money. Now, I think the whole Events Center project is contrary to that obligation in the first place but given that the college is going ahead with this project anyway, that just means the college must try even harder to not affect students' bottom line or quality of education.

My point in all this is that I want to hear whether or not the administration made their decision in this light. Perhaps they looked at local employment first and found a record of union abuses. Perhaps even though the contract the college chose was cheaper, the particular business we contracted with is managed in such a way that it actually benefits the employees more than a union. Perhaps not. My point here is the word "union" is supposed to indicate employees are treated better. My father, a CSEA member for many years will tell you that this is not always so.

Furthermore, what does the 10% unemployment rate tell us at all? Are these unemployed even in the construction trade? I've actually had informal discussions with various community members that point towards the idea that this statistic reflects "white-collar" unemployment. That is, more and more of Cornell and Ithaca's graduates are unable to find work right away and remain in the area. Do you think many of these graduates are willing to go into the construction trade?

So, I must reserve judgement until I know more about the factors those involved in this deal took into account when making it and until I know just what the various statistics actually mean...