Dear Faculty Colleague,

Please consider signing the petition, below, which calls for a fair wage policy at our university.  Faculty signatures are being collected during the next few weeks, and will be presented to President Sullivan in February. More information about the Living Wage Campaign is available at http://www.LivingWageAtUVA.org. We especially direct your attention to the document, “Keeping Our Promises,” posted on the site, which was compiled by student leaders of the campaign.

Sincerely,
The Faculty Support Committee for the Living Wage Campaign

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Faculty Petition for a Living Wage for all UVa Employees

We, the undersigned faculty members of the University of Virginia, urge the University, following the example of many peer institutions and the City of Charlottesville, to establish a living wage for all its employees.  A “living wage,” currently at least $11.44 an hour plus benefits, is indexed yearly to inflation, and entails wage parity for contract employees.*  We believe that all workers in the UVa community are entitled to the fair compensation that a living wage represents.


*A living wage is calculated to reflect the basic needs of an average family: a family of four with two full-time working adults and two dependent children. Based on the cost of living in Charlottesville, as calculated by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the Living Wage Campaign is calling for a base wage of at least $11.44—the wage that the City of Charlottesville currently requires all contractors to pay.  At this rate, a UVa employee who works 40 hours a week, all year round (52 weeks), would earn $23,795.20.   A living wage must be indexed to yearly inflation, assume basic employee benefits (including health insurance), and reflect cost of living increases.  The current figure may be revised slightly upward this spring, depending on city actions, as well as the EPI’s release of revised numbers from 2011.  See www.epi.org/resources/budget/