University of Virginia Library

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.