2008 Woodie Awards
Livable wage:
Fogel responds to task force
Hazel Ryerson Senior Staff Writer
Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: News
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towards implementing a livable wage policy, an announcement that left many
leaders of the livable wage campaign disappointed and outraged.
For over a year the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) has pressured the
University administration to implement a livable wage for all UVM employees. Last
April, Fogel responded by creating the Basic Needs and Equitable Compensation Task
Force to research livable wage as it applies to UVM.
Fogel and Senior Vice President and Provost John Hughes met with the task force on Thursday to discuss its final recommendations.
The meeting began as Fogel thanked the task force for its hard work and ended in public outrage when community members expressed the opinion that Fogel's response was inadequate.
"I feel personally that the discussion that went on today was an effort to discredit the work of the task force. I am disgusted by that," SLAP cocoordinator Max Tracy said.
Fogel responded to the public criticism and defended the administration's policies.
"For this community to continually say that the glass is half empty when it is clearly half full is morbid … it is pathological; it is hurting the fabric of the community," Fogel said.
The task force unanimously agreed that the University "should establish a minimum hourly wage that is not based on labor market conditions, but on the basic needs of a single person household," as the recommendation stated.
The task force calculated this basic needs wage at $12.28 per hour using livable wage data from the Joint Fiscal Office of Vermont.
Fogel did not respond directly to the implementation of a livable wage. Instead he spoke about the new United Electrical (UE) union contract that was finalized in October.
Fogel said the conditions of the new contract for the UE will also apply to non-union employees who receive less than livable wage. According to the task force, there are 256 employees receiving less than a livable wage, 73 of whom are not represented by a union.
"There is substantial gain here," Fogel said of the new contract, which set the wage floor at $10.60 per hour. The UE represents 330 maintenance workers at the University, 181 of whom are currently earning less than a livable wage.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
Bria
Brian Everill
posted 12/05/06 @ 8:57 PM EST
It was obvious from the inception of this, so called, "Task Force" that it was nothing more than a delaying tactic designed primarily to make the President appear as though he really cared about the less well off of his employees, while relieving some of the political heat he was feeling at that moment. (Continued…)
stever
steve
posted 12/06/06 @ 9:38 AM EST
It's obvious the 73 who are not making a livable wage, and who are not represented by a union, need to organize. The 181 who are organized under UE and are not making a livable wage, and still won't be under the most recent contract, need to rally the support of their membership, and include a livable wage as part of their next contract. (Continued…)
Drew
posted 12/09/06 @ 6:34 PM EST
Of course the task force was nothing but a ploy. The university needs some way of fighting back against the ignorance of the Student Labor Action Project and there pointless disruptive tactics. (Continued…)
Milton Friedman
posted 12/19/06 @ 6:31 PM EST
Brian - those who first respond by attacking the credibility or morality of an opposing view expose themselves immediatly as inferior in either knowledge or tact This is not a personal dig, just a little debate tip - stay on topic and debate relative importance and verdict of facts, not opinions, and you will be more successfull. (Continued…)
Milton Friedman
posted 12/19/06 @ 6:45 PM EST
sorry for all the gramatical and spelling errors, its been a long day and I was typing very quickly...
Also, the issue is not whether or not we care about low wage workers, it is about a disagreement in what we believe is in their best interest. (Continued…)
Milton Friedman
posted 12/20/06 @ 10:39 PM EST
haha, jesus man, debate the issue - would a minimum wage be in the best interest of low wage workers?
Slavery and the moral impliations of such, was/were a crime, and completely alterior to the debate of a livable wage. (Continued…)
Milton Friedman
posted 12/20/06 @ 10:44 PM EST
sorry, I spelled ulterior wrong...and made some other mistakes, i was again typing fast, I will work on this...
Milton Friedman
posted 12/20/06 @ 11:00 PM EST
sorry, I couldn't leave it alone...
I'm not sure if this is the case, But I assume the children/family of workers gets to attend UVM free, or almost free. (Continued…)
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