Tyson. It’s a word most students are not familiar with, and for good reason. But with recent decisions by ASM and the Wiley Administration, students should be asking, “Where are the priorities?”
For more than six months, Tyson Foods, Inc. and their labor contractor, United Food Workers, have been embroiled in a bitter and arduous labor strike. Neither side has shown a great deal of willingness to compromise and the strike could go on for some time.
In and of itself, this does not concern students — and rightfully so. Who cares what goes on at a chicken factory in Jefferson? What does that have to do with our tuition bill? But 11 out of 33 ASM representatives felt differently, passing a resolution during the summer session calling on the University to boycott all Tyson products. The administration, feeling pressured by the vote, announced that UW will not purchase Tyson Foods products during the strike.
The decision to stop purchasing from Tyson raises three questions:
First, why is the University, a government agency, taking a position on a private sector labor-management dispute? The National Labor Relations Board has already ruled on the case, finding in favor of Tyson. Does the administration somehow feel more qualified to deal with national labor issues in addition to governing this University? Perhaps the NLRB should decide how best to fund SEVIS.
Secondly, why is our student government, ASM, taking a position on private labor issues? ASM representatives are beholden to the students who elected them, not strikers on a picket line in Jefferson County.
Third, why is the University administration bowing to a contingent of merely 11 students, all of whom cast their votes when class was not in session? Wiley’s Chief of Staff, Casey Nagy, says the ASM resolution carried a great deal of weight in the decision to stop buying Tyson goods. But if 11 students can get together and convince the administration to change its policies, then let’s give the 46-ounce beer cup at the Memorial Union another try?
Nagy denies the University took a position on the labor dispute itself and argues the decision to stop buying from Tyson was “consumer driven.”
However, discussions with Union food service officials have not confirmed any decrease in consumer purchases of Tyson foods at Memorial Union and Union South. If there has been no decrease in consumption of Tyson products at the Unions, how can this action by Bascom be “consumer driven?”
A Tyson spokesman said UW-Madison is the only university he is aware of that has decided to stop purchasing Tyson products while the strike continues. We can find better distinctions.
ASM and the administration should do their jobs: Protecting student interests and providing them a world-class education, respectively. By becoming involved in private business matters having little to do with either issue, both groups extend beyond their reach and waste students’ time. We have to ask: where are the priorities?