OC Must Improve on Labor Issues

To the Editor:

As a recently minted OC Alumni (Class of 2000) I often turn to the Review online when I feel those little pangs of nostalgia. I was happy this week to see an article about OCOPE’S upcoming negotiations and their quest for student support. I hope that all students and alumni will stand by the union as they seek to improve their jobs and their lives through collective bargaining. 
Even though I was pleased to see the article, I was extremely UN-PLEASED with the comments of OC Human Resources Director Ruth Spencer. In the last paragraph of the article Spencer is asked about the possibility of faculty unionization at the College. She refutes the possibility, saying that Oberlin professors are not likely to succumb to “group think.” For a director of Human Resources it is very clear that Spencer knows little about organized labor. Workers (traditional “blue-collar” workers and professionals alike) do not organize unions because they are brainwashed into some sort of labor-cult. Workers organize precisely because through organization they gain the ability to speak with one voice to their employers. Solidarity is not a negative thing, Ms. Spencer, in fact it is the only thing that allows workers to gain power on the job and confront employer hostility. The members of OCOPE are hard-working men and women without whom we would not be able to check out a library book (let alone find one on the shelves), register for classes or know with certainty that a piano will be properly tuned for an important recital. These union members, as with professors (should they ever chose to organize), deserve the right to determine through collective bargaining that they will receive fair wages and benefits. 
Though Spencer’s comments addressed faculty unions directly, her general point was insulting to anyone who is a member of a union or a friend of labor. I wish OCOPE complete success in their struggle this summer. Furthermore, I hope that Spencer’s comments are in no way indicative of the response the union can expect from the OC administration in negotiations come July. 

–Ursula Lawrence
OC ’00
Washington, D.C.