Hello Dr. Gilley, this
is Irucka Ajani Embry. I am a concerned person and a student here at the
University of Tennessee and an advocate for the Living Wage not just here at
UT, but in Knoxville and worldwide as well. I feel that a Living Wage is vital
to having a better UT/Knoxville community. I also feel that all UT workers
should have their health protected. I feel that the custodians, housekeepers,
and other UT workers who come into contact with bodily fluids and pathogens and
other types of microbes should be protected with a vaccination and with
equipment as well. Their health should not be a question of money; it should be
vital to sustaining a moral university. Something that has not happened yet. We
still are lacking in paying all our employees a Living Wage, not to mention
that this university like so many other universities functions like a
corporation and lacks in morality and respect for all workers. I want UT to
provide Hepatitis B shots to all employees, including and especially
housekeepers and custodians. I personally live and have lived in the
dormitories during my stay at UT, and I have seen the types of bodily fluids
that the housekeepers and custodians do have to come into contact with and I
definitely think they need protection from those pathogen and disease carrying
fluids. Furthermore, I believe that UT should provide these Hepatitis B shots
free of charge to all UT employees exposed and/or in contact with hazardous
bodily fluids that could lead to personal sickness or to their death. This is
not just for their health though, it is for the health of their families, and
for the whole community of Knoxville/UT as well. It is imperative that this
happens as soon as possible. I would like to reiterate the questions posed to
you and the rest of the administration by the CWLW (Campus Workers for a Living
Wage): 1. What are routine housekeeping duties? 2. How many resident halls only
have routine housekeeping duties? 3. Can the administration tell us the ways
hepatitis b is transmitted? 4. What is the housekeeping staff to do if there is
an emergency that requires medical assistance?
I support a Living Wage for all UT employees and for all employees in Knoxville
and around the world. I support the Hepatitis B vaccine being given to all UT
employees free of charge as well.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Irucka Ajani Embry
Concerned person and student
April 25, 2000