Students Protest University Custodial Worker Rosario’s Firing at North College

More than 30 students gathered in front of South College to protest the firing of former University custodian Victor Rosario on Thursday, April 30. The rally was organized by the United Student/Labor Action Coalition (USLAC). 

Having previously worked 17 years for the University, Rosario was fired by Service Management Group Corporate Services (SMG) as he attempted to return to work following an 11-month-long medical leave owing to workplace injuries. Rosario stated that in addition to the injury, his role as a steward for the union representing the University’s custodial workers prompted his firing. 

The students advocated for the University administration to hold SMG accountable and reinstate Rosario. Started by USLAC, a petition to reinstate Rosario amassed more than 500 signatures. Following the rally, USLAC representatives delivered a letter addressed to President Michael Roth ’78 in South College.

“[Roth] wasn’t in the office out there, and his assistant also wasn’t there, but we read it to the secretary,” organizer and USLAC coordinator Genesis Castro ’28, who delivered the letter to South College, said. “We were just calling out the injustices, we were demanding for Victor be reinstated without loss of pay seniority, and to regain his original position.”

Although Rosario wasn’t present at the rally, a separate letter written by him explaining his situation and decrying the treatment of custodial workers was read at the protest.

“It is unbelievable that my work has been discarded this easily,” Rosario’s message read. “I call upon the Wesleyan community to support my reinstatement and fight alongside custodial staff for better working conditions. In my 17 years of working here, I have known the unique institution that is Wesleyan. The community, my peers, and the students like you all today is what makes me fight to come back. Thank you so much for your time and support.”

The letter penned by USLAC called on Roth to enforce the University’s service contractor employment code, which guarantees the rights of subcontractor workers to organize in a union free of harassment and mandates the contractor to provide workplace safety, which Rosario alleged was violated.

“Historically, Wesleyan has been an institution attuned to progressive attitudes on labor organizing, actively collaborating with students and staff,” the letter reads. “Reorienting our community towards promoting a culture of respect and dignity for all workers is to the benefit of the University as a whole.”

Several student protestors of them held posters, reading slogans like “support unions,” “people over profit,” “worker rights are human rights,” and “trabajadores unidos jamás serán vencidos” (“workers united will never be defeated). Speakers Romir Srivastava ’27 and Camila Sosa ’29 led the crowd in a series of calls and responses in support of workers’ rights.

Attendee Miguel Estrada ’27 knew Rosario personally. Estrada had befriended Gloria Alarco, a custodial worker in Clark Hall, where Estrada is a residential advisor. Alarco detailed the unfair treatment workers were exposed to him, and Estrada proposed a meeting between the three of them. Alarco, Rosario, and Estrada dined in Middletown together, where Rosario explained his perspective on his citation to Estrada.

“I think that I could relate to him a lot more because my parents are service workers, and I just could never imagine a world in which my parents are treated like this, and so I really see him as part of my family,” Estrada said.

Following his meal with Rosario, Estrada joined USLAC. 

“Being here is a privilege, and being able to access the facilities, being able to live comfortably is a privilege,” Estrada said. “We can do more to thank those that make that possible.”

Aarushi Bahadur can be reached at abahadur@wesleyan.edu.

Spencer Landers can be reached at sklanders@wesleyan.edu.