University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Plan For Pay System
In Spite Of Petition

I am writing on behalf of the
University Committee on Traffic
Control to thank you for the copy
of the petition being circulated
among University faculty and staff.

To comment on the petition, I
believe the Committee would agree
that it would have a much simpler
and altogether easier task if funds
were made available by any source
for the purpose of expanding our
parking to keep up with the ever
increasing demand. However, in
reality the Committee has accepted
the fact that no such funds will be
forthcoming and we must plan to
go ahead with a pay system before
the situation becomes too chaotic
to deal with.

We might add for your benefit
that the practice of charging
employees to park at their place of
employment is becoming quite
prevalent in Virginia and includes
State employees. We are informed
that there are over 50 State
agencies which currently deduct
such payments from State payroll.

Whereas the solution of State
capital funding for such parking is
desirable, we must also admit that
the demands placed on the State
legislature for capital funding by
the many educational institutions
in the State already far exceeds the
State's ability to fund them.

We feel, as a Committee, that
we have a two fold task; first of all,
to make a general parking charge as
low as possible to our fellow
employees, and, secondly, to see
that you receive something for this
charge. We hope to succeed in this
task and will greatly appreciate
your comments when our
comprehensive plan is formally
announced to the University
Community.

Pay Delay

If you are an employee of the
State of Virginia, you have just
discovered that payday is no longer
the 1st of the month. Last October
it was the 4th, in a few months will
be the 7th. The State of Virginia
has just borrowed, without interest,
one quarter of your paycheck (or
one week's work) until the
termination of your employment.
Because your successor at work will
be equally delayed in his pay check,
the State has effectively acquired
that money indefinitely, unless it
ceases to exist as an employer. The
cumulative effect for the State is
acquisition, not borrowing, in one
single step of one quarter of the
whole State payroll. Each
individual employee is lending the
State, at no interest and until the
end of his employment, his earnings
of one week. In addition he will
pay the interest for that money
borrowed by the State in the form
of finance charges by his creditors
at current 12 per cent and 18 per
cent annual rates. Our creditors
have not agreed, nor can they be
forced to delay collections past the
7th of each month.

We employees of the State of
Virginia, must resist this way of
taxing without permission, account
or benefit. We may recover our
earnings in the voting booths and
refuse to elect any politician
(Republican or Democrat) to high
State offices unless they are
committed to return our due
earnings. If the State of Virginia has
reasons of efficiency or others, to
pay its employees on the seventh
instead of the first day of the
month, they should then make a
single five-week paycheck at the
time of the change. We may
demand this from our elected
representatives in the State, and
also from their successors, until our
due earnings are returned.