By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A small group of students at Washington University in St. Louis is staging a sit-in to demand the administration pay campus employees a living wage.
Carl Lipscombe with the D.C.-based Student Labor Action Project says Washington University students have lobbied for nearly two years on behalf of service workers who make poverty level wages.
He says students have met with administrators and held rallies, but to no avail.
"Basically, what they've been doing has fallen on deaf ears," Lipscombe said. "The president of the university has refused to act on behalf of the workers, and so the students felt as though it was time to escalate their tactics."
The students want the university to pay service workers at least $9.54 an hour, or $11.63 if they have no health benefits. They plans to remain in the university's admissions office until their demands are met.
In a statement, Washington University officials say they're willing to consider the demonstrators' proposal.