January 31, 2012 12:00 am
President Urgo, let’s make a campus living wage a reality
By Emily Saari, Class of 2012, Abiola Akanni, Class of 2015, and Tensia Montoya, Class of 2012
Dear President Urgo,
We were happy to read your recent all-campus email describing your anticipation for the semester ahead. We too feel an exhilarating mix of trepidation for the future and enthusiasm for the potential held in the present. Potential, especially, for our ability to make a positive change for the frequently overlooked community members to whom we owe so much.
That’s why we were especially inspired to read your acknowledgment of the ongoing distress and worry that the state pay freeze has caused in our campus community, particularly for the grounds, housekeeping, and maintenance staff who are paid the lowest salaries on campus. In fact, several of these staff members earn well below a living wage, defined as the gross income needed to support one’s self and family with basic essentials. In St. Mary’s County, according to Pennsylvania State University’s living wage calculator, you might be surprised to learn that the living wage for a single parent raising one child is $34,317. Many of our grounds, housekeeping, and maintenance staff members are in fact single parents, however, they make salaries as low as $24,500.
It also surprised us to learn that the presence and growth of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station has caused a radical increase in the median income of St. Mary’s County residents, jumping up to $88,444 in 2010 – making our area’s median income no significantly different than that of the Washington, D.C. – Arlington – Alexandria area. Despite this, St. Mary’s staff members have seen only meager increases in their salaries, not nearly enough to keep up with the rising cost of living in the County.
This discrepancy is alarming, but we need not be hopeless. St. Mary’s has taught us the importance of respect, inclusiveness, and social responsibility, and the challenge posed by inadequate staff wages presents an opportunity to move closer to our stated ideals. We are confident that the diverse and creative minds of our campus can collaborate to not only remedy the problem, but promote lasting, meaningful changes that will uplift our community as a whole.
To echo the insightful message you delivered to the Board of Trustees this past December, “…we do not understand ourselves to be reliant on the course of events for our progress; on the contrary, we feel the burden of being responsible for the course of events.”
President Urgo, we look forward to working with you, staff, faculty, and fellow students to find a way for all campus employees to earn the living wage they deserve.
Sincerely,
Emily Saari ‘12, Hortensia Montoya ‘12, and Abiola Akanni ‘15
great editorial, this issue deserves more attention. i really hope that urgo and the rest of the administration can get behind this
Bravo. Keep up the hard work!
Lest we forget that higher wages will probably mean either less people will be employed by the college or something else will be sacrificed. The money doesn’t come from one of Jurgo’s magical Fedoras, it comes from the state of Maryland and our tuition bills.
Furthermore, it is absolutely worth knowing that the housekeepers at SMCM are paid over 20% *More* than the average for St. Mary’s County.*($19,706) This means that the housekeeper(s) who is/are removed to balance higher wages would make LESS money doing that same job in the region.
In my opinion, possibly higher tuition or less college provided resources for students and a lower paycheck for the housekeepers that would be laid off is the exact opposite of economic justice that we all deserve.
Housekeepers and grounds-crew work tirelessly for our school and deserve to be more well recognized both personally and financially for their excellent work, however we need to keep the reality of economics in mind to make sure we don’t let the current situation become worse.
*source http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_2400003.htm 2010 (most recent) Labor Statistics.
Not necessarily true. Dean Bayless got a $30,000 pay increase and Dr. Urgo got a $50,000 pay increase last semester. I am not saying they didn’t deserved a higher salary but the college could have held that money until the state allowed them to spend it on, say, the 40 least paid staff members. Or they could have classified the people who shovel snow, clean our toilets and fix things when they break as essential, the newly created loophole used to pay Bayless and Urgo.
No matter if it is the school’s fault or the state’s fault it has the same feeling as our country as a whole has — the game is rigged for those at the top.
I mostly agree with Jonathan. The authors state that the living wage is $34,317 while some staff at SMCM make $24,500. Where is the $10,000 x number of staff going to come from? Yes, Jurgo and other administrators make decent money and yes, there’s probably some waste that could be eliminated but I’m not convinced that cutting their salaries and such could free up nearly enough money to give all the staff 40% raises.
The College and the state are in bad financial shape and I’m not particularly eager to pay significantly more in tuition/housing when we already pay more than students at all other Maryland public college/universities and SMCM is the fourth most expensive public college in the country.
I have to completely disagree with both Jonathan and Nicole. The fact of the matter is that people are framing this entire problem the wrong way. I have yet to meet with one Administrator who has presented the solution in any way except that it would result in a tuition increase and I have a problem with this. This is my last year at St. Mary’s and I have taken a tuition increase every year that as well as making sacrifices as a student. If we as a community made living wage a priority, I truly believe that it could become a reality. Urgo’s car allowance alone is worth more than most staff members entire salary. Are you telling me you see nothing wrong with that?
As an institution we live by certain ideals and values meaning that we have the social responsibility to make sure that these people are making living wage. Do we really want to live in a world where this kind of stuff is okay? As a community, we need to make tough decisions otherwise I do not want to hear anyone else on this campus preaching about “The St. Mary’s Way” or “Civility” or “Community” because it seems like we’ve forgotten what that’s all about.
In regards to the state freeze, I have to respond by saying that unfortunately this isn’t the first time students have had to stand up for staff members to get them living wage. The first time St. Mary’s was called out for not paying staff living wage was before the state salary freeze, proving that action needs to be taken in order to get the administration to realize this is important to us.
As a student body, we will be most powerful if we are united. This means we cannot accept a “tuition increase” as the only possible solution to this problem.
By the way, I hate to break it to anyone who didn’t already know but there will be a tuition increase next year…Surprise.
All in all if we can’t make a difference here at St. Mary’s where our voice can reach a large amount of people, what are we going to do when we reach “the real world”?
If anything, CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES! It’s the state that gives us the money for salaries, and they’re the ones that froze pay for the last 3 years (and at least 1 more, if not 2). They’re also the ones that foisted the “critical” pay raises on us. Yes, we need to make Urgo aware of what we want, but that’s only half the game – he’s still got to convince the state to let us have it.
Use this site to find out who represents you in Maryland:
http://mdelect.net/
Return Anon:
What does you mean the state “hoisted” the pay raises on SMC? Someone at SMC had to ask for this money. Who might that have been?
Next time you see Jurgo, ask him who had sole authority at SMC to disperse all that money, to whomever they wanted?
SMC is already starting to lose good people because of the crap that is going on. How many are they willing to lose before someone (trustees, are you listening) opens their eyes and starts recognizing the workers at SMC are getting the shaft?
sit-in, anyone?
Did someone delete my comment?