AAST UGA, Amanda Vu, Featured in DBK Article: "‘The bare minimum:’ UMD students express mixed reactions to announced wage increases"

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, AAST Undergraduate Assistant (UGA) and minor student, Amanda Vu, was featured in The Diamondback article titled, “‘The bare minimum:’ UMD students express mixed reactions to announced wage increases.”

Amanda Vu, a junior psychology and community health major, was happy with the wage increase. Last year, Vu worked as a community assistant for Resident Life, but now she works for the Asian American studies [program]. Still, she thinks more work can be done for workers’ conditions and equal treatment between workers.

Vu said there needs to be more open communication lines between supervisors and student employees across all departments. She said the increase in student wages was from the pressure of student workers organizing across the campus to make the new wage a reality.

Read the full article here.

At the end of Spring 2022, Program Coordinator, Kai Kai Mascareñas, urged AAST to increase UGA wages to $15/hour to align with student organizing efforts on campus, as well as the national conversation on raising the minimum wage. Previous AAST Director, Dr. Julie Park, was more than willing to raise student wages and worked with AAST’s Business and Scheduling Coordinator, Alexandria Grant, to make sure the FY22-23 budget reflected the increase of wages. AAST believes President Pines’ announcement that student wages will be set at $15/hour is a step in the right direction.