I don’t know that I am a spokesperson for the union, but I do know that I speak for what I feel is right. So as not to leave questions open either inadvertently or out of intentional dishonesty, I will clarify our statements. I and 60 other members of Physical Plant have lived with the negotiations, and worked without a contract, for the past 11 months. I am not going to respond to all of Holt’s comments in his column (“Mytheology: ’Wesploiting’ our bleeding hearts,” April 29, Volume CXLIII, Number 44), because I don’t know from whom he obtained his information. What I will do is use real math to show how under this 2.5 percent “pay raise” and $2,500 one-time bonus money we will lose money.
The facts are that the median income for Physical Plant workers is $47,000 per year. The median insurance premium is $1,375 per year. At a 2.5 percent pay raise, by year three, the average raise will be $1,276 per year. By year three, the average insurance premium will be $1,625 per year, going from 13 percent to 33 percent, and this includes the 11 who do not use the insurance plan. Now, the $1,000 signing bonus for the first year, plus the $750 signing bonus for the second year, plus the $750 signing bonus for the third year are one-time payments. We will not be getting $2,50 per year as Holt’s article suggests to offset the 120 percent increase in our insurance premium. So, by year three, the average raise will be $1,276 and the average insurance premium will be $1,625. This results in an average loss of $349 per year. Now, with the one-time bonuses, that comes out to $717 per year. That is a 1.53 percent raise per year. We’re already in the hole because we’ve been living for the past five years at a 2 percent pay raise, and for the last 11 months that we haven’t had a contract, we’ve received no raise as this economy spirals downhill.
The 61 members of the union are always available to answer any questions any of the students may have. We are not trying to interrupt the students’ campus life; we just want to be fairly compensated for the work we do for the Wesleyan community.
Leave a Reply