Five Tufts University students have launched a hunger strike to protest a decision to layoff more than two dozen janitors — 17 percent of the janitorial workforce — by early next month.
Dozens of students have also set up a tent occupation on the university’s quad in front of Ballou Hall and have vowed to remain there until the Tufts administration agrees to discontinue plans to make cuts.
Members of the janitorial workforce — most of whom are Hispanic — have argued that the proposed layoffs will impact their ability to provide for their families.
“The cuts will affect many workers, both part time and full time. Many people will be affected, many will lose their work, and many of us will receive a heavy load of work,” said Adelaida Colon, a custodial worker on Tufts’ campus. “Right now, we are giving the university good service and we have been giving it for 18 years, but if they do the cuts it will be an absolutely different job. The students won’t feel the same and it won’t be a complete service to the university.”
Anna Gaebler, a junior at Tufts and a member of the Tufts Labor Coalition, said that faculty and community representatives at the school, located outside of Boston, have been united in a campaign against these cuts.
Last month, the Somerville and Medford city councils passed resolutions advising Tufts to suspend plans for the cuts. The Tufts Labor Coalition has also organized increasingly large-scale actions in opposition to the plan put forward by the Tufts administration. In addition, janitors have held weekly rallies on the Tufts campus.
Last week, four Tufts students and three union activists were arrested after blocking traffic during a demonstration against cutting the janitorial positions. The three union activists are connected to the Service Employees International Union, which represents janitors at Tufts.
