After one of Syracuse University’s largest unions negotiated a contract with the school, a coalition of unions renewed an effort to target the university’s employee parking cost structure.
United Syracuse — a coalition of unions that represent SU employees, including Service Employees International Union Local 200United (SEIU) and Adjuncts United, as well as other staff, students and faculty members — plans to begin pushing for the change again this semester.
Currently, workers say that some of the university’s lowest-paid employees carry the highest cost burden when it comes to getting a parking permit.
Margaret Butler, a former member of the Syracuse University staff union, is an interim operations specialist in the Departments of English and Religion. She commutes an hour to SU each day, and supplements her income with work outside of her university position. She believes the parking system is inequitable.
“If I’m paying 1% of my salary to park to come to my job, then somebody who is making $250,000 shouldn’t be paying less than, what, .25% to park,” Butler said.
The cost of a parking permit for a university employee is based on their salary. The cost to park at SU escalates based on how high an employee’s salary is. However, the unions argue employees who earn less end up paying a greater share of their salary then employees at the top.
The tiered structure is shown in the graphic below.
University spokesperson Sarah Scalese defended the university’s parking cost structure. In an email response to Central Current’s questions, Scalese wrote that higher paid employees’ parking fees subsidize parking fees for lower paid employees. The money generated from parking permits pays for the upkeep of parking garages and technological upgrades, Scalese said.
“The tier system ensures equitable assigned parking based on years of service, position title, work location, and available space, regardless of an employee’s salary,” Scalese said.
Scalese added that, although there is a slight difference in percentage, employees in lower salary tiers do not pay more than employees in higher salary tiers.
United Syracuse has organized around parking costs since Fall 2023. The coalition last met with SU in the spring of this year.
United Syracuse plans to set up another meeting with SU this semester to discuss the parking cost structure, said Odette Rodriguez, a contract action team member for the staff union. In the meeting, United Syracuse hopes to also address other related issues, like the creation of more bus and shuttle shelters and the installation of clearer signage.
The university previously committed to collaborating with United Syracuse on shelters and signage, Rodriguez said. The coalition is hoping to see the progress through.
United Syracuse plans to share the stories of its employees’ daily commutes to show what workers and adjuncts go through when they have to drive and park at or near SU, Rodriguez said. They will be launching a video series similar to a social media campaign in the spring that detailed why SU employees wanted to unionize.
The video series will show the university that the push for a parking payment overhaul is a concern shared by a bulk of employees, Rodriguez said.
“They care about reducing turnover. They care about maintaining institutional knowledge,” Rodriguez said of the university. “Our campaigns will remind them that is one of many issues, but still an important one that contributes to that.”
The university froze parking rate increases for the 2024-25 academic year after meetings between workers and the university’s parking services group, according to Matt Huber, a professor in the geography and environment department.
Huber and Butler met with members of SU’s administration about reforming the parking cost structure, but Huber said talks stalled after the university asked the unions to provide more data about other colleges’ parking pricing models.
Adjuncts United, a union for part-time professors at SU, has also participated in arguing for parking price reform. Laurel Morton, president of the organization, said adjuncts bear the brunt of the pricing model.
Many adjuncts, Morton said, have to buy a parking permit because they don’t have spare time to park blocks away from the university and walk to campus.
“It is cost-prohibitive to work here on a part-time basis,” Morton said.
Huber believes that changes to the parking cost structure will only come with large-scale changes to the university’s budget because the parking system is financed by the cost of the parking permits.
“We’re not talking about a major metropolitan area. I’m sure parking fees at New York University are really high for a good reason,” Huber said. “It seems pretty clear to me that they’re probably way too high at Syracuse.”
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