University of Virginia Library

Non-Academic Wages

An even more shocking example of the
delegates' lack of concern for vitally needed
appropriations was their treatment of state
employees. Governor Godwin had requested a
10 per cent across the board pay increase for
the peons — the men at the University who
clean rooms, maintain the Grounds, etc. The
pay scale for these people was, in most
cases, hardly a living wage. Most of them have
to moonlight if they want to support a family.

The state has always refused these
employees the right to organize themselves
and bargain collectively, much less strike to
enforce their demands. The word from
Richmond has always been that the state will
paternalistically take care of its own; the
House of Delegates' action shows how much
stock the non-academic employees can place
in paternalism and the benevolence of the
state government. Without a wage increase,
they will not be able to keep up with
inflation.

But when it came to salary increases for
the big boys, the delegates were more than
generous. They raised their own salaries more
than 200 percent. They approved sizable
raises for state Supreme Court Justices, the
Attorney General, and the Clerk of the House.

Of course, the legislators will tell you that
the state simply doesn't have the money to
increase the wages of its employees. This is a
direct result, however, of the House's refusal
to consider new taxes on cigarettes proposed
by Governor Holton. The Delegates could pay
off the wage increase if they were willing to
raise the assessment on cigarettes, which are
proven killers anyway. But the state
employees just don't have the lobbying power
that the tobacco industry is able to muster.

Given such a fine example of the state's
benevolence, it's time for the University's
non-academic employees to start thinking
about getting themselves organized to better
their lot. There are state rules against union
activity; but those rules, if they are to be just,
must be accompanied by an earnest
commitment on the part of the state to pay
its employees a decent wage. Since the state
has shown its disinterest, its up to the
employees to make the Delegates take heed of
their plight.