Originally published on Apr. 23

After nine days and dozens of missed meals, the eight remaining participants of the hunger strike organized by the Stanford Labor Action Coalition (SLAC) broke fast after the student group reached an agreement with the University Friday afternoon regarding Stanford's living wage policy.

In his third personal meeting with student representatives, President John Hennessy agreed to make multiple changes to the existing policy, with the effect of broadening the number of contracted workers who earn a wage minimum of $11.15 an hour with benefits, or $12.59 without benefits.

The agreement reached on Friday will expand the living wage to apply to workers without regard for the duration of their contracts, the number of hours they work or the duration of time they are employed.

It does not, however, extend the living wage policy to cover two of the groups excluded by restrictions specifically targeted by the SLAC campaign: workers in unions and workers employed under aggregate contracts less than $100,000 in value. This group includes workers employed by ABM Janitors such as Ernesto Garcia, who was one of the fasters.

The amount of additional workers who might be covered by the agreement is still unclear. The University has yet to release an estimate, but SLAC spokesperson Matt Seriff-Cullick '08 said that, while he did not want to speculate, the number might be "in the hundreds."

Both parties celebrated the compromise. University officials talked up the importance of the meetings, while SLAC activists emphasized the bargaining power generated by the fast.

"I think this shows that when people sit around a table and discuss issues that are important, they can reach some compromise," said University spokesperson Alan Acosta. "It may not be the absolute everything that either side wanted, but it shows that when you sit down and discuss issues that are important, you can reach some resolutions and improve them."

Seriff-Cullick offered a different assessment. "Most of what matters is not what goes on in the negotiating room, it's what goes on outside," he said.

Although SLAC members downplayed the role played by negotiation, the group's current stance represents a softened version of earlier positions made regarding the goals of the fast.

"The problem is in the disjunction [that exists] between the business side of the institution and its function as a social actor," Seriff-Cullick said on Monday of the difficulties SLAC faced in getting the University to drop the collective bargaining restriction, which bars union-represented workers from the living wage policy. "There's a very standard business mentality that prevails."

SLAC spokesperson Shamala Gallagher '07 had a mixed reaction to the University's concessions.

"Everyone's happy with the way things turned out," she said. "But there's still that one restriction that we're still unhappy with."

According to SLAC, the eight remaining fasters - who had not eaten for over a week - began a modest diet of toast after being taken to Vaden Health Center. While all showed strong vital signs, many lost a significant amount of weight. One participant reportedly dropped 19 pounds over the nine-day period.

The twelve fasters began their protest on Apr. 12 in an effort to persuade the University to change its living wage policies.

While relations between the student representatives and the University may have been somewhat strained at times during the fast, both sides ended the ordeal with amicable words.

"So even though the fight for the justice of the workers isn't completely over, this is a big victory," Gallager said. "We congratulate the University on revising the policy."

The University similarly noted the groups' common goal.

"At times, you can't help there being a certain adversarial quality," Acosta said. "But the spirit of this on both sides has been to improve this policy."