Facility staff at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) who are members of Teamsters Local 251 went on strike Monday morning as negotiations between workers and the school reached a stalemate. Teamsters Local 251 represents 62 custodians, caretakers, groundskeepers, and movers at RISD.

In mid-February, RISD management presented workers “with a best and final offer” that failed to satisfy the demands of workers. Management entering or leaving through the front door of RISD offices Monday morning were confronted by a giant inflatable pig on a flatbed truck.

This strike comes a week and a half after an open-ended unfair labor practice strike was declared in March to call attention to the troubled negotiations. Workers have also called out the College’s hypocrisy on equity and inclusion – despite its policies and rhetoric – in an online petition.

Gina Santos has worked at RISD for ten years. She makes $15.65 an hour. “That’s not money enough to live [and] pay the bills,” said Santos to Uprise RI. “That’s why we’re here, for better wages… I love my job… I live by myself and I have to pay my mortgage, my bills, my insurance…

“I’m sick, and I have to pay a lot of money to the doctors, co-payments, hospitals, everything,” said Santos, whose foot was in a cast. “The school does not want to give us enough to live.”

Uprise RI asked Santos about the school’s “best and final offer.”

“No,” said Santos. “That’s nothing. That’s disgusting.”

The workers will be off the job or as long as it takes to get a fair contract, said Santos. “We are all together. Like a family.”

In a press statement RISD expressed “significant concerns about the accuracy of the information union leaders are providing to its members regarding our last offer and the status of negotiations.”

After speaking to workers this morning, Uprise RI found no evidence to support those concerns. Workers seemed well-informed on the state of the negotiations and the contents of RISD’s “final” offer.