The Undergraduate Assembly passed a proposal Sunday night to support unionization efforts by workers on campus.
The proposal, spearheaded by UA member and College sophomore Hayling Price, seeks to promote dialogue between the University and Penn security guards, who are technically employed by an outside company, about wages, training and benefits.
Price said that since the security workers are not employees of Penn, but rather of AlliedBarton, the University feels it would be interfering as a third party if it attempted to mediate between the two.
Several security guards presented President Amy Gutmann with a petition regarding unionization last year, but the University did not endorse the effort.
Some of the guards were later suspended and transferred away from the University by AlliedBarton, though all were eventually offered their old jobs back.
By that time, though, some of the guards had left the company.
In the spring, Penn officials said that while a study concluded that most guards were satisfied with their working conditions, the University would work with the guards to achieve a better working environment.
The text of the UA resolution "strongly encourages Penn's administration to engage in a dialogue with AlliedBarton employees and representatives."
The UA also passed a proposal that aims to make the UA more visible around campus. One of the items mentioned in the proposal is the creation of a UA MySpace.com blog in which UA members can write about different proposals or campus issues they feel strongly about.
