"Coach Derek Dooley gets a buyout of millions of dollars.  UT administrators are promised a million dollars in bonuses.  Governor Haslam encourages a transition away from raises to help everyday working people keep up with the cost of living in his State of the State address.  And yet thousands of higher education workers across the state continue to make below, at, or just above the poverty line.  What's wrong with that picture?" asked Thomas Walker, UCW executive board member from Knoxville and clerical workers at the UT College of Social Work.  "It leaves you wondering if they have any idea what it's like for regular people struggling to get by."

Citing a lack of established, concrete metrics, fair and transparent procedures, lack of dues process, and a culture of cronyism that frequently rewards those who already make the most, UCW calls on the Governor, the legislature, and higher education administrators to distribute raise dollars fairly-  and that means equally and across-the-board.  Last year in the UT system, the top 100 merit raise earners brought home more than $1 million, with one person along receiving almost $28,000, while the bottom 100 merit raise earners brought home a total of about $10,600 combined.

"This nine cent, ten cent raise doesn't cut it; it isn't enough, with everything going up.  I want the same things that Governor Haslam and the administrators want.  I want to take care of my family just like they do, without having to work two jobs, " said Vivian Williams, University of Memphis custodian and UCW member.

While pleased that the Governor sees a need to continue to raise the low pay of the state's public servants, UCW is planning to advocate for policies that President Tom Anderson, of Facilities Services at UTK, describes as "the right thing to do.  If you divided the pot equally, everyone would get something significant, especially us who need it most.  Full time jobs should keep you out of poverty not in it, and until we can truthfully say that's the case we shouldn't even consider stuff like percentage raises and merit raises, which are demonstrated to disproportionately benefit the folks at the top while those of us at the bottom toil on with just a pittance."

For more information please contact:

Tom Anderson, UCW President-  865-934-7373, [email protected]

Thomas Walker, UCW member-  865-776-3094, [email protected]

On January 9 and 10 of this year, in the very first days of the new legislative session, Sen. Summerville introduced a series of seven bills to systematically end all efforts to undo the legacy of Jim Crow and segregation in our state’s educational institutions, and furthermore to get rid of all efforts to promote diversity, equality, inclusion, and to guard against bigotry, prejudice, and oppression in our schools, colleges, and universities.

In a signature bill, Senate Bill 46 or SB0046, he wants to outlaw having anyone on any campus who, “promotes diversity, equality, and inclusion,” who assures “implementation of…[and] monitoring of compliance with” two titles of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX protecting women, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.” SB0046 seeks to prohibit the existence of even a single person who addresses charges of “discrimination and violations of federal laws, state laws, and institutional policies.”

Sen. Summerville and any of his colleagues who support his efforts want to turn back the tide of justice and equality to before the Civil Rights Movement, and deny even the most basic protections to students and workers of color, women, people with disabilities, and anyone discriminated against because of their age–in short, anyone who isn’t just like him.

Moreover, as attacks on public services and the public sector ramp up, especially against our schools and universities, attacks on all of us who make the public sector work will, too. Sen. Summerville’s bills are part and parcel of this trend, making our workplaces most vulnerable to discrimination and prejudice, and denying us even the small measures of recourse that we had already.

Well, to Sen. Summerville and his clique, we say: we want something different. United Campus Workers stands for a workplace where everyone is respected, has due process and rights, and which is free from discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice against anyone, and we’ve enshrined that in our Campus Worker Bill of Rights. We pledge to stand up for ourselves, our coworkers, the students and the public we serve–to stand up for one another–in the face of so much injustice.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "...I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

In the end what we want is a Tennessee for every Tennessean, not just the Good Ol’ Boys, and will oppose at every turn Sen. Summerville’s attempts or anyone else’s that stand in the way of democracy, equality, and justice.

-The United Campus Workers Executive Board