That chance encounter taught me a lot about the role of staff members on this campus, and the problems with faculty-staff relationships. No matter what the relationships between individual staff and faculty members, it's obvious that there are deep-seated institutionalized problems. Faculty members now have a chance to help change that, by joining with staff members to build an even more powerful movement for fair wages and a decent working environment for everyone on campus. This past summer, the old University Staff Association transformed itself into a dues-paying group. Last year's Campaign for Fair Wages was a great start, but staff members realized that to achieve their goals of fair pay and equitable treatment they would have to be able to show administrators, regents, and legislators that they are a political force to be reckoned with.
Faculty members can be part of that step by joining USA as supporting members.
While joining USA certainly has symbolic value, faculty members should understand that more important things are at stake. First, I believe the most privileged folks in the world have an obligation to help in the struggles of those less well off. And like the staff, we work in a system that subjects us to the arbitrary authority of administrators, regents, and legislators. Now, some faculty members may object, saying that as intellectual workers and professionals we have a different status than staff, or citing the relevance of faculty governance. Yes, we do different work than staff members, but that doesn't change our place in the system.