livable wage – Memphis Flyer

A week after the most recent conversation about living wages at the University of Memphis heated up, U of M president David Rudd sent a letter to faculty saying that his commitment to providing all employees with a living wage “remains firm.”

Last week Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris vetoed a Shelby County Commission decision to allocate $1 million for the U of M’s Michael Rose Natatorium because of the school’s failure to pay living wages to some employees.

Harris said then that he won’t support the funding until the university presents a plan to pay livable wages to all employees.

Rudd said that the mayor’s proposal raised “serious ethical concerns” and that the university will forgo the county’s funding offer for the project. Rudd also said last week that the university is in the process of implementing a plan to raise hourly wages to $15 an hour over the next two years.

“We have a definitive plan,” Rudd said. “We’ll be at $15/hour in two years. And in a sustainable manner.”

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In a Monday letter to the university’s faculty and staff, Rudd said over the past four years the university has implemented three “historic increases in our minimum wage from $9.20 to $10.10, $10.60 two years ago, and $11.11 this fiscal year.”

A living wage extends beyond hourly pay and also should account for employee benefits packages, Rudd said. When the new minimum wage of $11.11 goes into place this year, Rudd said, with benefits factored in, wages equal about $16.80 an hour.

University of Memphis President David M. Rudd

The university’s approach to increasing minimum wage is “thoughtful and methodical,” Rudd wrote, touting some of the school’s financial accomplishments, such as implementing four consecutive years of pay increases and keeping tuition the lowest of the state’s public institutions over the past five years.

“Over the past few years, I have repeatedly expressed my support for a living wage,” Rudd wrote. “We’re the only public university in the state with three significant increases in our hourly wage over the past four years. As I’ve also said before, we’re committed to doing it because it’s the right thing.”

Rudd said he believes the university will be able to pay a livable wage to all employees in two years, but in a “manner that is financially responsible and sustainable.”

He did not mention the amount of the proposed livable wage.

“We’ve made significant progress the past two years and I believe we can achieve our goal in two years,” Rudd said. “I will not, however, sacrifice financial discipline and the success of our university for political expediency.”

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What are other universities here paying?

As of July 1st, the lowest-paid employees at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will earn $15 an hour, according to the university. This is the highest in the area.

Southwest Tennessee Community College established a living wage plan in 2017 and raised every employee’s pay to at least $10.76 an hour. Since then, the minimum wage has increased to $12.24 an hour. The college said 31 employees currently earn this amount.

Christian Brothers University officials did not disclose its minimum hourly wage, but said the university is committed to a “just and living wage for employees” and that income equality is one of university president John Shannon’s top priorities during his first 100 days in his new role as president.

At Rhodes College, the minimum hourly wage is $12 an hour, but president of the college, Marjorie Hass, said last week in a letter to faculty and staff that the college is in the second year of a multi-year plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

After the Shelby County Board of Commissioners approved a $1 million allocation for swimming pool renovations at the University of Memphis, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris vetoed the commission’s decision, citing the university’s failure to pay a living wage of $15 an hour for some of its employees.

In a letter to the commission dated July 7th, Harris said he won’t support funding the Michael Rose Natatorium project until the university devises a plan to increase the employees’ pay to a living wage.

Harris said groups such as the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope, along with several unions who have been pushing for a wage increases at the university, have contacted him, speaking against the $1 million allocation.

“They believe that, prior to any distribution, the University of Memphis should first present a timeline or plan to bring its lowest-paid workers up to a living wage,” Harris wrote. “They believe Shelby County government should delay this allocation until the issue of low pay for these workers is resolved. I am grateful to these groups because they have brought to light an important issue.”

Harris said that more than 330 employees at the U of M are making $11.11 per hour, “far below a living wage for individuals with children” and “far below the $15 per hour that Shelby County government has repeatedly recommended for public institutions.”

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris

The mayor said the employees can’t sustain themselves with an $11.11 per hour wage and that the issues of poverty that continue to persist in the community are “interconnected to decisions like these.” Harris said many of the employees not making a livable wage at the university are African American with children and families to support.

“That is to say, for years they have not earned a living wage,” Harris said. “For years they have been working and still living in poverty. These employees include custodians and the very people who will likely have to clean the facility and swimming pool in question, once it is built.”

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Harris said until the university presents a timeline on increasing wages, he “cannot endorse this budget allocation.”

“I realize that my stance here may create some consternation, which is not my intent,” Harris said. “I take this stance after deliberation, and I am trying as best I can to follow my conscience.”

University of Memphis president M. David Rudd responded to Harris on Monday, writing in a letter that the mayor’s letter raises “serious ethical concerns” and that the university will forgo the county’s funding offer for the project.

“Given the request to directly influence university policy in exchange for the funding, I will have to decline the support,” Rudd wrote.

Rudd said Harris’ request could be a “potential serious ethical breach” of the university and a potential violation of a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accreditation standard, which states that “the governing board is free from undue influence from political, religious, or other external bodies and protects the institution from such influence.”

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Therefore Rudd said he will decline the county’s support for the natatorium, as the accreditation standards are “very clear.”

“I report to the Board of Trustees, not the county mayor,” Rudd said. “Our Trustees possess the authority to oversee and approve policy changes at the university level.”

University of Memphis President David M. Rudd

Rudd added that the university is in the process of implementing a plan to raise hourly wages to $15 an hour over the next several years.

“We’re doing so because we believe our employees deserve it, because it’s the right thing to do,” Rudd said. “Our employees are the foundation of our institution and the reason we’re succeeding. We’re not doing it because you’ve vetoed $1 million in support for the Michael Rose Natatorium.”

Rudd said the university will raise the hourly wages in a way that “doesn’t threaten the financial stability that we’ve worked so hard to attain, or result in dramatic tuition increases that threaten the success of our students and economic growth of the Memphis region.”

Harris did not immediately respond to the Flyer‘s request for comment.