By MELISSA NIX
The lowest-paid workers on the University of Mary Washington campus will soon find a bit more in their paychecks.
UMW President William Anderson has reversed his earlier decision to wait until March to review a proposed increase.
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Richard Hurley said the reversal was possible because of positive financial news.
"The governor released his budget, and it has very favorable allocations proposed for the university," Hurley said. "We've since been monitoring the legislature, and we don't get the sense that anyone wants to take away any of the funds for higher education. We decided we needed to do this sooner rather than later. All those things we didn't know about in November."
For all full-time and part-time employees in the lowest pay band, the base rate will rise from $8.72 to $9.16 an hour. Full-time employees will see that rate go into effect on March 10; part-time employees on March 20, according to a UMW statement released Friday.
At present, the university's full-time custodians earn the lowest wage on campus--$18,067, or $8.72 an hour. About 25 workers earn that salary, and half have worked for the university longer than seven years.
One worker earning that salary has been at the university for 16 years, according to UMW Human Resources data released to the Ad-Hoc Committee on Compensation Issues.
Starting salaries for custodians will increase to $19,094. Entry-level groundskeepers, who earn close to that figure now, will see their hourly rate increase to $10.67 an hour, or $22,118 annually.
The increases will bring those salaries in line with those of Stafford County employees in comparable jobs.
Members of the Living Wage Coalition, a group of 10 to 15 student activists, have kept the pressure on school officials to pay workers a living wage. They circulated petitions, demonstrated on campus and even took over the vice president's office last spring to draw attention to their cause.
Since then, they have sent scores of letters to Anderson's office every day, said Patrick McGowan, a coalition member.
This week, they passed out fliers at each presidential candidate forum and asked each candidate about living wage issues during question-and-answer periods.
McGowan broke the news to fellow students at the Coalition's Thursday night meeting.
"[Vice President] Hurley pulled me aside and said, 'I just talked to [President] Anderson and he's approving the salary increases.'"
The students cheered and clapped.
"Yeah, it's pretty sweet," McGowan added.
McGowan added that after two years, such workers would be able to receive "Tier 2" compensation of about $21,400 and $24,000, respectively.
"It's a big victory for us, regardless, but it's not technically a living wage," McGowan said.
He said the coalition had been asking for salaries in the $25,000 range.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the poverty level for a family of four was $18,850 in 2004.
Despite the victory, coalition members were puzzled by the reversal.
In November, the Ad-Hoc Committee, which was comprised of faculty, students and administrators, recommended immediate raises for the lowest-paid employees. The committee was formed in response to the coalition's April sit-in.
At that point, Anderson declined the increase, citing lack of funds in this fiscal year's budget. Hurley also explained to the committee that UMW couldn't raise pay of the workers, who are officially known as classified employees, based on living wage issues.
State law provides 13 reasons for boosting a classified worker's pay. Colleges can pay secretaries, housekeepers and others more money for reasons such as having advanced levels of education, experience, skills and abilities required on the job, or if the school is having a hard time filling positions.
"If those 13 criteria had been tying their hands and preventing them from taking action, then what changed?" asked coalition member Phil Arnone, 19.
The market changed, Hurley said. "One of [those criteria] is the market. Stafford is the market." We used the market to justify the wage increase and will use a combination of state and tuition funds to pay the new salaries, he said.
At the meeting, coalition members agreed to continue to push for higher salaries, as well as annual cost of living increases for workers.
To reach MELISSA NIX:
Email: mnix@freelancestar.com