The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: News

ADAMS

John Doe is a 20-year University employee who is working 80 hours a week at his two jobs. He earns $20,000 a year to support his wife and three children.

Doe is not real, but he is a character who symbolizes the realities of a low-wage University employee on http://johndoeuga.org, a Web site that supports a University living wage.

Hundreds of University students and faculty are expected to rally in support of low-wage University employees at 2 p.m. today in the Tate plaza.

Members of Stand Up Magazine, One Campaign, Young Democrats, UGA Fair Trade and the NAACP are expected to attend the rally, according to a news release issued by Nikita Smeshko, a sophomore from Smyrna and a Living Wage campaign member.

The rally is in support of a University Council ad hoc committee, who studied raising the minimum hiring rate and the status of temporary workers last year. The committee's proposal for raising wages was approved last fall, but has yet to be put into effect, according to Red & Black reports.

"I want [University President Michael Adams] to know there's a lot of people who care about these employees," said Kate Gibson, a sophomore from Lawrenceville and Living Wage campaign member. Gibson will be one of the speakers at the rally.

The Web site www.johndoeuga.org defines living wage as "a wage that allows the earner and his/her small family to live modestly on a single paycheck without relying on government assistance."

The online petition, which is addressed to Adams, lists recommendations offered by the ad hoc committee, including:

• raising the wage to $10.50 an hour for full-time and part-time employees

• raising the minimum hiring rate at the University to $24,000 by Jan. 1, 2010

• reclassifying workers who work more than 35 hours per week for six months as "regular" employees with full benefits

• implementing a tier-based payment system for employee health benefits

As of Wednesday night, the online petition contained 645 signatures. But there are more than a 1,000 supporters between the print and online petitions, Smeshko said.

The salary rate of the lowest paid University employees was increased to $20,000 in 2007, an increase from $12,790 in 2002, according to the 2006-07 Annual Report of Institutional Progress.

Although the wage has increased, it is not enough, Gibson said.

"It's awesome [it was increased], but we'd like for it to be a little higher," she said. "There are temporary and part-time employees who are not paid close to that. We're trying to make sure that temporary and part-time employees have the opportunity to have benefits."

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