FAQs
Q: What is a living wage?
A living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a full-time worker to pay for basic needs. Although living wage standards vary by region, they are all considerably higher than the federal minimum wage, which does not begin to meet the needs of working people or families anywhere in the country; in fact, it puts a parent with one child below the federal poverty line. A living wage aims to correct this by establishing, at a local level, a more reasonable minimum wage.
Two independent agencies, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) provide living wage estimates for various locations across the United States. Based on these estimates, Living Income for Vanderbilt Employees (LIVE) determined that in order to pay for housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare and taxes in Nashville, Tennessee, an employee would need to make $10.18 per hour, equaling a cumulative yearly income of $21,000.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the minimum wage needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Nashville is even higher than $10.18. VCA feels, therefore, that setting the minimum hourly pay at $10.18 is a reasonable request given these statistics.
Click here to read the full white paper
Vanderbilt Community Alliance asks the Administration at Vanderbilt University to make a commitment towards socially accountable compensation by establishing a minimum wage of at least $10.18 an hour.
Q: Which employees do not make a living wage, and how much do they make?
A: Many of the 575 "bargaining unit employees" from the Laborers' International Union of North America, Local Union 386 currently make less than a living wage. This includes groundskeepers, custodians, dining service workers, and others on Vanderbilt's campus.
In March 2005, the Vanderbilt administration agreed to raise minimum pay from $6.50 an hour to $7.55 an hour. This is a start, but it is still $2.63 an hour shy of a living wage of $10.18 an hour. This is a start, but it is still $2.63 an hour shy of a living wage of $10.18 an hour.
While Vanderbilt has negotiated a minimum/maximum range of pay for its bargaining unit employees, it has consistently held the lowest paid wage earners at the bottom of their range. This means that most of these employees only received wage increases when the range minimum was increased.
Q: Has a living wage been implemented elsewhere?
A: Yes. Harvard University accepted the recommendations of the Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies to improve wages and working conditions for the University's lowest-paid workers, raising their minimum pay rate in 2002 to a living wage floor of $10.81 and enacting a parity policy that ensures that contracted employees receive compensation equivalent to their full-time counterparts. Click here for more information.
Other universities, such as Georgetown University and Washington University-St. Louis, have also adopted living wage measures or are currently working towards better pay for university employees.
In addition, many cities and counties across the country are also adopting living wage measures. According to the Living Wage Resource Center, 140 localities have adopted a living wage standard. Click here to find out more.
Q: What is Vanderbilt Community Alliance requesting?
A: Vanderbilt Community Alliance asks the Administration to make a commitment towards socially accountable compensation, including establishing a minimum living wage for all employees. Click here for 10 detailed requests that Vanderbilt Community Alliance has made of the Administration
WHO IS VANDERBILT COMMUNITY ALLIANCE?
Vanderbilt Community Alliance is a coalition of Vanderbilt University employees, students, faculty, community members and labor organizations who are calling upon university administration to compensate all full-time staff with a living wage, or the amount a full-time worker must earn to pay for basic needs. The Laborers' International Union of North America, Local Union 386, has been engaged in contract negotiations with the Vanderbilt Administration for five years, and has still not realized a living wage. Vanderbilt Community Alliance believes that change is long overdue, and urges the Administration to share the university's wealth with the employees that keep it running.
Vanderbilt Community Alliance Coalition Members:
American Baptist College
Belmont United Methodist Church
Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church
Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 386
Living Income for Vanderbilt Employees (LIVE)
Mid-South Interfaith Network
Nashville Jobs with Justice
Nashville Peace and Justice Center
Progressive Baptist Church
Service Employee International Union, Local 205
Southeast Laborers' District Council
Tennessee AFL-CIO
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
"What we are asking for is not unreasonable. For Vanderbilt employees to be able to meet their basic needs from the compensation of their full-time jobs should be self-evident."
- Vanderbilt Community Alliance Chairman
"This is a crisis that has been ignored for at least the past three years by the university. In the Vanderbilt employment office there are signs urging staff members to adopt less fortunate staff members for the holidays. One student, while volunteering with the homeless, ran into an employee friend who it turned out, was homeless. Students know these employees. In some cases they work alongside them. The entire Vanderbilt community is hurt when people are paid unjustly."
- Joel Dillard, Vanderbilt Class of 2004, Living Income for Vanderbilt Employees (LIVE) member (Tennessean, Nov. 15, 2004)
"Our job is to make sure everyone else can do their jobs to keep the place running."
- Dewayne Arbogast, Vanderbilt custodian of 13 years, making just under $8/hour (Tennessean, Nov. 11, 2004)
"Vanderbilt isn't exactly strapped for cash. With an endowment of more than $2 billion, students paying $42,000 a year to attend and "chocolate-dipped strawberries" for faculty receptions costing $1.75 apiece, the university could easily find the funds."
- Ronnie Steinberg, Vanderbilt sociology professor (Tennessean, Nov. 11, 2004)
STEPS TOWARD SOCIALLY ACCOUNTABLE COMPENSATION
Vanderbilt Community Alliance asks the Vanderbilt Administration to make the following commitments towards socially accountable compensation:
- Achieve a living wage at Vanderbilt. We ask Vanderbilt to commit before the next contract negotiation to paying its full-time employees a wage that is adequate for survival in Nashville, a minimum of $10.18 per hour. To prevent disruption of human resources policy, wage crowding, and to ease the transition to socially accountable compensation, the commitment may occur gradually but must be complete by the expiration of the negotiated contract.
- Maintain a frequent Cost of Living Adjustment. The lowest pay offered to employees should be regularly raised in accordance with the local "Cost of Living Adjustment" (COLA) so that the value of starting pay in the lowest portion of the pay scale does not deteriorate over time. A comparison of low pay scales to Nashville's cost of living should be taken annually in accordance with standards set out in the WOW study, The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Tennessee.
- Establish transparency and openness in all labor policy. The conditions of work, including compensation policies, benefits packages, wage scales and general labor practices should be available to researchers and the general public to promote a relationship of good faith.
- Renew commitment to quality benefits. The benefits that Vanderbilt University provides must not be compromised in an effort to provide nominally higher wages. The calculation of a living wage assumes the inclusion of a comprehensive benefits package, which Vanderbilt currently provides. Those benefits that provide for essential needs, such as health care, must be considered an integral part of future compensation policy.
- Provide wage parity for subcontracted labor. All labor subcontracted by the university must be compensated with a living wage. Outsourcing does not dissolve the responsibility for ethical compensation, it only shares it with another party.
- Maintain job security and integrity. The Vanderbilt Administration should work to ensure that no significant job loss will occur as a result of the implementation of a living wage policy. Additionally, the University will continue its commitment to directly hiring employees, and will not turn to outsourced labor after implementation of the living wage policy.
- Make a commitment to full-time hiring. Vanderbilt and its contracted employers will commit to offering full-time jobs to qualified workers and avoid the practice of hiring part-time employees simply to avoid providing a benefits package. Part-time and temporary jobs should be offered as rarely as possible. For the creation of a sustainable workforce and a strong community, one full-time employee is always preferable to two part-time employees.
- Maintain the right to organize and voice grievances. Coercive practices, whether explicitly prohibited by law or not, are unacceptable in the Vanderbilt workplace. Vanderbilt will not engage in any form of union busting; workers have the right to freely associate, organize, and voice grievances to their union without fearing for their job security. The University will not interfere with the workers' right to contact their union or hinder just union procedure through harassment, intimidation, or pressure.
- Establish clarity and openness in communication with workers. All employment policies and benefits must be clearly outlined and explained to workers to avoid miscommunication, and to ensure that employees know their rights, and are treated and compensated fairly. Accurate and accessible information is essential to an equitable employer-employee relationship.
- Create an Advisory Committee. Consisting of students, faculty, workers, union representatives, and administrators, with equal representation for each group. The committee shall meet regularly to ensure that the University carefully adheres to the living wage policy. This committee will also be responsible for the annual recalculation of a living wage, in order to inform and evaluate Vanderbilt wage policy.
|
