Concerning Salary Increases for State of North Carolina Employees
RESOLUTION OF THE EMPLOYEE FORUM
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
April 7, 2004
WHEREAS, the Mission of the Employee Forum is to address constructively concerns of employees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and
WHEREAS, those concerns include the receipt of regular and appropriate salary increases as a means of meeting the cost of living and receiving tangible reward for having attained proficiency, expertise and a high level of quality in one’s work; and
WHEREAS, Employees’ salaries have not maintained parity with the consumer price index for inflation or the growth of income for the average North Carolinian, and, have fallen far short over the past many years; and
Whereas, the increase in cost-of-living expenses and family health care premiums has effectively decreased the pay of state employees; and
WHEREAS, job stability, healthcare and other employee benefits are no longer attractive or competitive enough to recruit and hold employees so that candidates now regularly refuse job offers and increasingly good employees are leaving at considerable expense to the University; and
Whereas, many state employees are additionally experiencing significant increases in work loads as jobs are eliminated and others remain unfilled, all of which is lowering morale and adversely impacting our faculty and the classroom environment; and
Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly has in recent years elected not to give pay raises to state employees, but rather to substitute a one time bonus (2003) and bonus vacation days (2002, 2003); therefore
BE IT Resolved, the UNC-Chapel Hill Employee Forum asks the General Assembly to:
1. Grant to all state employees a flat $2,000 annual salary increase for fiscal year 2004-2005 to partially compensate for the past years during which state employees have not had a viable raise and to further bolster lower paid employee salaries;
2. Fund additional performance pay increases for all state employees with evaluations that are “Good” or above.
3. Raise the minimum hourly rate of salary for state employees to $10 an hour to ensure all state employees are paid at minimum a living wage.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Employee Forum of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill strongly recommends that the Chancellor and his Administration convey and support publicly the concepts of this resolution in dealings with the University’s General Administration, and the North Carolina State Legislature.
Signed on Behalf of the Delagates of the Employee Forum,
Chair, Tommy Griffin