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Tell Governor Bredesen- UT Staff and Faculty Can't Survive on Leftovers!
This year Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen gave state agency employees a minimum 3 percent across the board raise. With an additional $21.1 million that went to address salary compression, many agency employees saw over a 7 percent increase in pay. (Source: TSEA)
Meanwhile, the 40 percent of University of Tennessee hourly employees making poverty level wages only saw only a $600 increase. Additionally, the vast majority of UT faculty members did not even receive the minimum 2 percent raise afforded to all other higher education workers (with many seeing nothing more than a mere 1 percent raise). This meant that the raises of many UT faculty members were even less than the $600 minimum all UT staff received. It is clear that higher education employees got the leftovers.
Tennessee’s higher education workers excel at the education of thousands of Tennessee’s brightest students, and take a tremendous amount of pride in delivering this important public service. We deserve real cost of living raises and salaries that meet our basic needs. We at least deserve parity in pay and raises with other state workers.
Please contact Governor Bredesen and ask him to ensure a real cost of living raise tied to the consumer price index for all higher education workers in his next budget. You can send the letter below by filling out your contact information on the left side of the screen. Addtionally, you can modify the letter to include your own comments.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: UT Staff and Faculty Can't Survive on Leftovers!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing today to express my concerns over your decision to allow the introduction of a two-tier raise structure in the state work-force.
The decision to award some state agency employees a 3 percent across the board raise with an additional $21.1 million tax-payer dollars for compression pay, while giving a 2 percent raise to University of Tennessee and Board of Regents employees concerns me greatly. What is more, the majority of UT faculty did not even receive the minimum 2 percent raise due to UT President John Petersen's poorly devised merit pay plan.
These policy decisions amount to pay discrimination. They are seriously endangering the viability of the most important resource of our colleges and universities: the faculty and staff that teach the classes and sustain these institutions' daily operations. Higher education employees cannot survive on the leftovers of the state budget process.
As the political campaign season gets into full swing, please make a public commitment to funding public higher education, including giving our faculty and staff competitive salaries and cost of living raises on par with those of other state employees.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
September 12, 2006
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