Greetings,

UCW-CWA June 9, 2009 Budget Update

As the legislature moves to adopt a budget for fiscal year 2010 the budget situation in Tennessee continues to be dire. New proposals to eliminate state agency jobs are being debated at a time when the last thing Tennesseans need are more additions to the state's unemployment roles. Stipulations in the federal stimulus fund greatly improve the particulars we face as higher education employees this fiscal year, but grim conditions remain on campuses all across the state.

Even though things are very bad right now there are some positive signs. Many economists are beginning to talk about economy recovery later this year. Some even point to signs of a turnaround already taking place. We have to understand that even when the state and national economy begin to pick back up the budget problems in Tennessee will remain. To address the root causes of our funding crisis the state must get real about solving its revenue problems.

As this situation comes home to our campuses across the state over the next several months, we must remain vigilant. In some departments fund restrictions or planned cuts that affect administration and other folks at the top have been rolled back. Meanwhile, cuts targeting rank and file staff and faculty, cuts in student services and the elimination of academic programs are still on the table with short-term time-lines. We know that these proposals will not provide long-term solutions; instead they will undermine efforts at economic recovery. Our union has a long history of winning important victories involving poor working conditions and bad policies, such as the groundbreaking overtime pay victory for UT farm workers across the state last January.

Most recently a small group of workers in an academic affairs unit at UT Knoxville had been told that due to budget cuts they would loose their shift differential pay over the summer during a temporary change in hours. This reversed the standing practice of paying the differential based upon the schedule permanently assigned to an employee. Members from across the unit met to discuss the fairness of the decision and the process by which it was decided, and quickly mobilized a response. As a result of folks standing together the pay cuts have been restored for the summer and the issue has been tabled for further consideration in the future.

The massive reorganization currently taking place in the UT System administration is another piece of potentially good news. It is still too early to definitively know if this process will help curb the massive growth in upper administration that the UT System has undergone under the Gilley, Shumaker and Petersen presidencies, but we welcome it as an acknowledgment of the obvious need to cut at the top, not at the bottom. As more details come to light these changes may serve as a blueprint for how future cuts to top-level administration across the Tennessee Board of Regents and University of Tennessee systems should be undertaken.

Ultimately, the most important thing folks can do to help soften and prevent future cuts is to get active in the union. Contact a union leader or organizer about setting up a lunch meeting or information table at your worksite. Talk with coworkers and friends about how important it is for them to join the union. Remind folks who are riding the fence that unless we strengthen our voice over the next two years things will be much worse than they are even now.

If cuts are still happening in your department get together with fellow union members and coworkers interested in making positive changes to brainstorm what can be done to improve the situation. UCW stewards and organizers are here to help members with planning these efforts. The situation may seem too big, and every day feelings of helplessness creep in, but with a little bit of organizing change is possible!