A dozen University of Vermont students are staging a hunger strike to demand higher wages for the university’s lowest paid employees.
The students are promising to consume only water and fruit juices until the university meets its demands.
The students began their hunger strike yesterday.
As of a year ago, 256 UVM employees were paid less than $12.28 an hour, the amount considered a livable wage in Burlington.
President Dan Fogel says he respects the students’ activism. But he also says UVM pays some of the best wages and offers some of the best benefits in the state.
Hunger strike leader, Sam Maron, says the strikers have no plans to start eating again until the university meets their demands.