We all appreciate the Community Action and Social Justice Coalition's attempt to get tuition remission for Aramark employees. Aramark employees at AU work very hard and clean up enough puke that free college for them could be a wonderful perk. With that said, Aramark employees are not AU employees and therefore get no benefits or paychecks through the university. Furthermore, while many Aramark employees often work at AU, they can just as easily be sent to another third-party employer. Would they still qualify for free tuition? Should they?
Furthermore, Aramark employees have a union representative. If they wanted - or needed - free college, then Aramark employees have an outlet to make that known. If AU started showering benefits on Aramark employees that they did not want or did not need, it could start an unforeseen chain of events that could lead to just about anywhere - including lower wages for future employees.
The petition CASJ is circulating also misleads students into thinking the university is withholding easy and cheap benefits from employees, when this is just not the case. Fighting for social justice and higher wages is an admirable pursuit. But please don't mislead students into thinking that AU has any power over third-party employee benefits.
