State budget cuts leave UCLA workers underpaid

Workers throughout the country are feeling the devastation of a
struggling national economy, and UCLA’s employees are no
exception.

The shrinking state budget limited most employees to small pay
raises, maintaining the vast differences in pay at UCLA and perhaps
hurting the university’s ability to recruit top faculty and
staff.

Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who received only a 2-percent pay
increase for this year, still earns 12 times as much as the average
clerical worker at UCLA, according to data from the UC Office of
the President and the Coalition of University Employees.

The average clerical worker earns $25,000 to $26,000 a year
while Carnesale makes over $300,000.

“We think it shows that the university really
doesn’t have a commitment to treat much of its staff
fairly,” said Claudia Horning, CUE president.

CUE, which represents clerical workers at the University of
California, is demanding a 15-percent pay raise in ongoing contract
negotiations with the university.

At the same time, the university says its top administrators are
underpaid. The UC Regents last year approved up to a 25-percent pay
raise for some top administrators, but not chancellors. The regents
set chancellors’ pay raises at 2 percent, said UC Press Aide
Paul Schwartz.

Pay raises are required to recruit and retain top
administrators, Schwartz said.

The California Postsecondary Education Committee released a
report this year stating that UC chancellors are paid 27.3 percent
less than chancellors at comparable universities.

Most of the UC administrators, who the regents did approve for
large pay raises, did not receive anywhere near a 25 percent
increase.

For many of the administrators, the UC Office of the President
decided to defer all but a 2-percent pay raise because there was
not enough money in the state budget to provide the full raise.

About 50 received raises of more than 2 percent, Schwartz said.
Within that group the levels of raises varied widely ““ some
received little more than a 2 percent increase, some as high as a
20 percent increase in pay, Schwartz said.

State funding determines how much of a pay increase the UC can
offer employees because it is the UC’s largest source of
permanent income.

“The only way we’re going to raise salaries for all
employee groups is with increased state funding,” Schwartz
said.

But Horning said the university is hiding under the state budget
problems and could raise salaries if it wanted to.

When the UC was negotiating with state legislators for more
funds in the spring, their top priority was increased funding for
faculty and staff salaries, Schwartz said during the
negotiations.

Full professors averaged a $115,700 salary last year, but
faculty only received a 1.5-percent pay raise this year.

Faculty members are supposed to receive a 4-percent annual pay
increase under the university’s partnership agreement with
Gov. Gray Davis.

The state has been unable to fully fund the partnership in the
last two years, which has caused faculty salaries to fall behind
salaries at comparable institutions.

The market for quality faculty members is very competitive, so
it will be difficult for UCLA to keep its faculty without more
money, said Steve Olsen, vice chancellor of finance.

“The state’s funding formula does not recognize the
current financial reality,” Olsen said.

Losing top faculty is one of Olsen’s biggest concerns
about what might happen to the university if there isn’t more
money in the budget.

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