Stand for Justice, Don't Stand for Layoffs!

The University has orchestrated layoffs of employees in the University Library and many other departments all over campus as a means to fiscally compensate for Brown’s endowment losses and to offset its operating expenditures in a downturned economy. At the same time, the University’s emphasis on fundraising to support its building construction and campus expansion is moving forward.
Brown University knows it will have to subcontract to outside companies for the work done by many of the people it wants to layoff.

This is fiscal sleight of hand because although the outsourced workers will be less likely to make a living wage, get benefits, and have as good a working experience as a regular Brown employee has, the outside company they work for will have to be paid its cut as well. So, how does this really save money for the University?

Outsourced workers do not have the same vested interest in the University, because they are not given the same intrinsic value as a worker who is validated by being a member of the Brown community. Outsourced workers are not vetted in the same way as Brown employees, they are not getting as high a wage or benefits, which affects the quality of their work.

Brown University has had a long history of striving to create a supportive community of humanistic diversity, intellectual enlightenment and iconoclastic, interpersonal development. These values have produced a superlative environment which has a reputation for treating all community members fairly.

The actions being taken by this University are undermining its own values because it is disenfranchising employees who have a vested interest in the Brown way of life. And reciprocally, these employees are Brown University’s long term investment. For the Brown Corporation, how is this really the way to get a successful return on your investment?

Let President Simmons know that you do not support the outsourcing of Library jobs!