FAV DEPARTMENT STATEMENT from the Faculty, Staff, and Students of FAV
To President Crystal Williams, the Board of Trustees, Provost Anais Missakian, Deans, Fellow Departments, and Students at the Rhode Island School of Design:
The teachers, students, and staff of FAV stand in solidarity with the RISD custodians, groundskeepers, and movers.
RISD's institutional values are only as strong as the actions attached to them. If a living wage for workers is not sustainable, RISD will not be sustainable. Therefore, FAV supports the demand of striking custodial, moving, and grounds workers to receive a living wage starting at $20/hour.
We ask that RISD, as an institution, act with the same courage and honesty that our art making requires of us. We ask that it honor its stated mission of valuing the careful stewardship of our human, financial and physical resources. The words "social equity" must not be an ornament on a facade but a cornerstone. It is imperative that social equity join together every aspect of RISD operations, policies and practices to be truly faithful to the concept - the concept includes and is not limited to providing a living wage to all its employees.
We acknowledge the power imbalance that exists within RISD, where the highest-paid employees have an unfair advantage in negotiating contracts and agreements, perpetuating the marginalization of the lowest-paid workers, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. We urge the administration to engage in transparent dialogue with the entire RISD community and open themselves to the critique so central to RISD's purported educational goals.
Every employee should be treated fairly and given respect - through fair compensation for their labor. Every employee at RISD should enjoy safety in their employment and no one should feel they are disposable or easily replaced.
The disruption of this strike has caused corrosive bitterness and tarnished the hope that attended the October inauguration. We urge the administration to seize the opportunity to live the truth we espouse, to support words with action so that the values we craft, become real and manifest. Otherwise, we all become participants in perpetuating systemic inequality.
The strike has upended all our classes, all our projects, and all of our lives - but neither our learning nor resilience.
Signed
RISD FAV Teachers, Staff, and Students