Hillel Council Endorses Living Wage Campaign

The Harvard Hillel Coordinating Council--Hillel's student governing body--voted last night to endorse the Harvard living wage campaign, joining a growing list of campus organizations, Faculty members and politicians that have declared support for the campaign's goal of ensuring a minimum $10 hourly wage for all Harvard employees.

The campaign, spearheaded by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), has already won the endorsement of the social justice committee of the Catholic Student Association, the Environmental Action Committee and the Undergraduate Council, in addition to other student groups on campus.

More than 50 Harvard professors and several local politicians have also pledged their support.

Eleanor I. Benko '02, a member of PSLM, spoke on behalf of the bill before the vote at Hillel last night.

She said Hillel's vote of support--15 in favor, 10 opposed--demonstrated that the campaign has attracted a wide range of supporters.

"Having Hillel and other organizations that are not essentially political organizations taking part in endorsing this campaign shows that we have a broad base of support," Benko said.

Still, several members of the council said they felt the bill was too political in nature for Hillel to consider.

But Michael Rosenberg '01, chair of Harvard Hillel, said it was appropriate for the organization to consider the resolution, since supporting a living wage is in line with the traditional Jewish emphasis on social justice.

"Many people feel the living wage campaign represents a Jewish value of respecting human dignity, and feel for that reason Hillel should endorse [the campaign]," he said.

--Robert K. Silverman