Union officials are fighting to shield the university's lowest-paid employees from state-mandated furloughs, arguing that losing a few days' pay would hit the university's least wealthy workers the hardest.
The state is requiring the university to save $10.2 million through furlough days — unpaid days off — but union officials say workers making less than $30,000 can't afford to lose pay.
"They're supporting families on this, and any loss of pay is a significant loss," said Craig Newman, secretary for the university chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. "It affects their quality of life, their standard of living."
While the proposal is surrounded by uncertainty, union representatives and administrators agree one way to soften the impact of the furloughs would be to shut down the campus for a concentrated period of time, perhaps spring break, while spreading out the salary reductions over multiple paychecks so employees who live paycheck-to-paycheck won't take too large of a hit.
Newman said he met with the office of University Human Resources yesterday to discuss furloughs. While the two sides reached agreement on some issues, contention remains on whether low-wage employees should be exempted from furloughs.
Newman described the administration's reaction to his proposal as tepid.
"It hasn't been cold, but warm would not be an accurate way to describe it," Newman said. "Management is willing to talk about this. They recognize the problems we present, and the people that we talk to have to take it higher up the food chain."
However, Dale Anderson, the university's director of human resources, said he did not know of any meetings yesterday about the furloughs and declined to comment further.
University Senate Chairwoman Elise Miller-Hooks also declined to comment when asked about the senate's involvement in the furlough negotiations.
But as the exact implementation of the furloughs remains unclear, several aspects of the plan seem to be settled.
This year the highest-paid employees will likely have to take 10 furlough days, administrators said.
They also said the final furlough plan will probably force higher-paid employees to take more furlough days, similar to last year's plan, when the university furloughed employees from zero to six days.
Administrators and union representatives also agree on the benefits of closing the campus during spring break. The university would also save extra money by turning off lights and air conditioning in on-campus buildings during break.
University President Dan Mote said shutting down most operations for about a week was "certainly a strong possibility" because it would prevent workers from taking off significant time while classes are in session.
"Furloughs are very disruptive to workloads," Mote said, adding the campus wouldn't shut down on days class is scheduled. "It's an operating efficiency problem. Even when we had employees taking off six or five days, it was very troublesome."
Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie indicated that spring break would probably be the best time to enact the furloughs.
"I think everyone would like us to find [shut-down] days that augment holidays," she said. However, because employees are needed to process graduation data around the winter holidays, spring break and fall break are really the only other times to shut down the campus.
Wylie also said employees shouldn't worry about their benefits. Furloughs won't affect pensions, sick leave or vacation time due to legal restrictions, she said.
slivnick@umdbk.com, cwells@umdbk.com
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You challenge me to learn more about the how self support works, but offer no resourses. It seems to me that when money is handled by a "complex system" somebody is getting ripped off. The stock market crash and collapse of the economy come to mind.
Do you think it helps the economy for employees to have lower incomes?
With lower incomes they will spend less. This means less sales tax revenue for the state.
Lower incomes also means less income tax revenue for the state.
So what do our leaders do?
They start up a negative feedback loop!
They cut the pay of state and University employees.
Then they lay off a couple hundred from the state.
Uh-oh!! Revenue is down. Cut more.
Uh-oh. Revenue is down some more.
Cut more.
The people who still have jobs may be worried that they could lose them.
So they will buy even less. And slaes tax revenue will go down.
Wow. Rocjet science.
and be in worse shape than the poor fellow making $60,000. Did it ever occur to you that people making$60,000 are in better shape than those making $30,000?
Most of the housekeepers at the University make far less than $30,000.
They make between $22,000 and $25,000.
Another staff member at 60k with 8 furlough days = approximately $2181 total...And how is this a fair system? I hate to tell you will many people (not just those making lower wages) are living pay check to paycheck to support their families. Not to mention those who may make higher wages but have only one wage earner in the family. These are important things took dissect.Another bi-product of this unfairness is that it pushes good, talented staff away from the University and State System. Housekeepers are not lazy by the way and I did not say that.
REFRESHMENTS AT FACULTY MEETINGS!This is from the Washington Post, Saturday, Spet 12, 2009The School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland has 10 percent fewer faculty members this year, said its dean, Don Kettl. Administrators are working "incredibly hard to get students into the courses they need" to graduate. Faculty members, meanwhile, are coping with reductions in everything from computer repair to photocopying services. At a staff meeting Thursday, Kettl said, in lieu of a tray of refreshments, "somebody brought a pack of Oreos out of their pocket and passed it around."
Of course none of them is trying to support a family. None of them has expenses.
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