Gross injustice

<http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/userhomepage.php?userid=53>Staff Reports UT 
Daily Beacon
2005-04-05 18:35:57

University employees had the chance Monday to voice their work-related 
grievances at a United Campus Workers-Communications Workers of America 
(UCW-CWA) Speak Out event in the UC.

It still amazes us that at a state institution, a number of employees still 
make below poverty wages ­ there is a huge disconnect in that the state is 
supposed to look after the well-being of its citizens, yet it pays some of 
its very own employees less than $7 per hour.

However, the living wage ­ the hourly pay rate that one must earn in order 
to live at the most basic comfortable levels ­ for Knoxville is at the very 
least around $11 per hour. That pay gap means that families go hungry, 
bills don't get paid, and children don't have decent clothing.

It amazes us even further that not only is this a state institution, but 
it's a university. The University of Tennessee is here to educate and 
provide its students with a better way of life and higher standard of 
living. The university is the supposed beacon of enlightenment. How 
enlightened is it that lecturers with Ph.D.s from world-class institutions 
who work some 70 hours per week make $28,000 per year with no benefits?

How enlightened is it that university employees who serve you every day ­ 
such as library employees ­ have to take a second job just to survive?

How enlightened is it that members of the housekeeping staff that clean 
your dirty dorm bathroom every week make poverty wages?

It's anything but enlightened ­ it's shameful, disgusting and makes us 
embarrassed to be affiliated with such an institution.

Ripples of change are beginning to occur, however.

Members of the UCW have been successfully lobbying in Nashville in order to 
get a fair, $1,200 across-the-board raise for university employees rather 
than the percentage raises of the past, a move that is a step to address 
the persisting poverty wages at UT.

Membership in the UCW itself is steadily increasing as well.

Oftentimes, especially at this institution where fear is a common 
phenomenon among the ranks of employees, workers are afraid to speak out 
about the inequity and injustice in the bureaucratic employment system that 
is this university. Many are afraid of perhaps losing their jobs or being 
punished in some way.

However, there is one golden perk of working at a state institution: losing 
one's job is very, very difficult. The Constitution guarantees due process 
to all citizens, and in a state employment situation, that same sort of due 
process exists, helping to make getting fired more difficult. ­

And one certainly can't be fired from UT for joining a union by any means.

So, if you're an employee of this university and feel that you are pushed 
aside, treated unfairly, ignored or are just plain tired of the inherent 
flaws of inequality in the system, look into joining the UCW. The UCW 
exists solely to fight for your rights and to make your workplace ­ and 
much more importantly, your life ­ better. It's only in your best interest.

Plus, you deserve better.

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