Tom Anderson is a father, campus worker and caretaker to two flying squirrels he found in his backyard.
Most importantly, he is an activist.
“It’s giving voice to the voiceless,” Anderson said. “And it’s empowering those people who are voiceless, or feel like they’re voiceless, who feel like they can’t speak up for fear of retribution or losing their job.”
As a buyer in the Central Supply Warehouse for UT Facilities Services and local president of United Campus Workers, Tom has been advocating for the rights of campus workers since August 2001.
After graduating from Maryville College with a degree in history, Anderson immediately began looking for work. He realized that there were not many job openings for historians, and decided to apply his skills elsewhere.
After a job in the warehouse at UT opened up, Anderson jumped at the opportunity. The job offered stability and proximity to the city he’s grown to love.
“The money’s not great, but the people that I work with are great,” Anderson said. “Benefits are real good and hard to come by.”
After starting as a heavy lifter in the warehouse, Anderson was quickly promoted to warehouse senior. A couple of promotions later, he landed his current role.
After a 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. workday, Anderson either goes home to his wife and two sons, or to the union office, where he works twice a week until 9 p.m.
Since he was elected local president of United Campus Workers in 2008, Anderson has fought for a living wage, funding for higher education and the fair treatment of campus workers.
“It’s personal for me, and I think it is for anyone who calls themselves an activist,” he said. “When someone is mistreated at work, I take it personally. It makes me very angry when someone is harassed at work.”
Some of the United Campus Workers’ most significant achievements have come from some of the group’s most basic concerns, Anderson said. Created in 1999 in partnership with the student organization that is now the Progressive Student Alliance, United Campus Workers has succeeded in establishing an equal dollar raise for workers, paying Agriculture Extension workers for overtime and championing other small improvements, like providing housekeeping staff with latex gloves.
“There are a lot of small wins that folks don’t see,” Anderson said. “Those wins, that’s the work that I’m most proud of.
“That’s what keeps me going.”
Secretaries, adjunct professors, housekeepers, warehouse staff and custodians; to Anderson, they are all fighting for the same rights.
“To say labor with a capital ‘L’ carries a certain picture that everyone has,” he said. “One of the things that we at UCW challenge is the image of what labor is.”
Despite the common stigma surrounding physical labor, Anderson is proud of the work he does as a campus worker.
“It’s something that doesn’t make the headlines,” he said, “but it’s cool to look around and know that I supplied a chiller on a roof that cools a building, or electrical wiring or the clocks on the walls in a classroom.”
Anderson said his opinionated nature and ability to work well with people give him the unique opportunity to help those who aren’t at liberty to help themselves.
“I read once that one should always understand that no one is ever silent, although many are never heard,” he said. “And that’s something I take to heart.”
