Staff Salary Raises Unlikely Given State Budget

Hard economic times and bleak chances for a pay raise have not dampened the spirit of Employee Forum leader Tommy Griffin.

Despite Griffin's semester-long fight to include staff salaries in tuition discussions, a recent decision by the UNC-system Board of Governors to put a moratorium on tuition increases for the 2003-04 year has seemed to negate much of that work.

Griffin and the UNC-Chapel Hill staff, which includes rank-and-file employees such as housekeepers and dining hall workers, received no pay raises from the state this fiscal year and only slight raises the year before.

Traditionally, staff pay raises are initiated by the state, but this year Griffin worked with the UNC-CH Tuition Task Force to include higher pay for staff workers in a proposal crafted and passed before the BOG passed the freeze.

Members of the task force debated whether to add a clause to their tuition recommendation calling for staff raises even though it was likely that the BOG would not approve such an item. But members decided to include the increases, saying it was necessary to send a message about the importance of staff salaries.

But the BOG's decision last Friday to freeze tuition hikes for a year leaves the issue of employee pay raises in the hands of the N.C. General Assembly again. "(The state's) track record hasn't been too good in the last few years," Griffin said.

With staff salary raises again in jeopardy, Griffin said the Employee Forum has begun letter-writing campaigns to Gov. Mike Easley and the state legislature asking for increased pay.

Yet Griffin said he understands that the state is in tough economic times and that financing a raise through increased tuition for already cash-strapped students might not be the answer.

Griffin said that everyone who wants an education needs to be able to afford one and that further tuition hikes might be too burdensome for some prospective students. He said UNC-CH should not penalize students for the state's budget woes: "The only way we're going to get out of this economic situation is through education."

Griffin said he expects the legislature to recognize the staff's low pay and to give much-needed relief in better economic times in the future.

Provost Robert Shelton said more resources are needed from the legislature to provide the staff with the bonuses they deserve. "The staff here is phenomenal," he said. "But they're paid very little."

Shelton said he is not sure how the legislature will act on the issue but said it is necessary for the legislature to understand the staff's situation. "I do think it's critical for (the University) to go around and spread our message," he said.

Last semester, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-CH took steps to resolve its own salary problems and launched a fund-raiser to reward its staff with bonuses.

Richard Cole, the school's dean, said that nearly all faculty members made their own personal contributions to the fund and that the school was able to raise $8,590 for the staff. This comes out to a $536 bonus for each of the school's 16 staff members.

"Their salaries are lower than they ought to be, in my opinion," Cole said. "(The fund-raiser) is a way to show that we appreciate them."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.