UW staff: Forget the raise, and forget layoffs, too
SEATTLE -- Some 6,500 staff members at the University of Washington have voted to forego pay raises to help mitigate the impacts from upcoming budget cuts.
The members of SEIU Local 925, which includes administrative staff, laboratory workers, researchers and some UW hospital staff, voted overwhelmingly to give up any pay increases that were due from 2009 to 2011.
With state funding being cut up to 20 percent, the staff union decided the decision would help soften the blow of potential layoffs.
Union chapter president Anne Lawson said it won't stop layoffs completely, but said giving up the raises will preserve more services for students, faculty, and patients at UW Hospitals.
"We surveyed members about their wishes and the overwhelming majority voted to prioritize health care and creative ways to share work," Lawson said.
Jody Bundrock, an X-ray technician at the University of Washington Medical Center, is one of thousands of staff members who gave up her hard-earned cash so others don't lose their jobs.
"Everyone is vital to this organization, and we're working short-staffed as it is," she said. "Through this university, we're doing research every day and if we slow that down at all, that just slows down their health care."
But while they want to save services at the medical center, university staff members also know just giving up their raises isn't a cure-all.
"It's a tough situation out there," Lawson said. "Everybody is going to have to tighten their belts, and our members deeply care about the university and their mission."
University president Mark Emmert just answered some tough questions on Tuesday night. Students and staffers want other money-saving options, including the president cutting his own $900,000 paycheck.
The University already eliminated 36 vacant positions, laid off 34 people and bumped down16 positions from full-time to part-time.
Bundrock said all things considered, giving up a pay raise wasn't a hard decision.
"I can't imagine me getting a raise and somebody else losing a job. It doesn't make any sense as a society to allow that to happen," she said.
The university has already announced cuts to fundraising and alumni programs due to a downturn in donor activity.
The members of SEIU Local 925, which includes administrative staff, laboratory workers, researchers and some UW hospital staff, voted overwhelmingly to give up any pay increases that were due from 2009 to 2011.
With state funding being cut up to 20 percent, the staff union decided the decision would help soften the blow of potential layoffs.
Union chapter president Anne Lawson said it won't stop layoffs completely, but said giving up the raises will preserve more services for students, faculty, and patients at UW Hospitals.
"We surveyed members about their wishes and the overwhelming majority voted to prioritize health care and creative ways to share work," Lawson said.
Jody Bundrock, an X-ray technician at the University of Washington Medical Center, is one of thousands of staff members who gave up her hard-earned cash so others don't lose their jobs.
"Everyone is vital to this organization, and we're working short-staffed as it is," she said. "Through this university, we're doing research every day and if we slow that down at all, that just slows down their health care."
But while they want to save services at the medical center, university staff members also know just giving up their raises isn't a cure-all.
"It's a tough situation out there," Lawson said. "Everybody is going to have to tighten their belts, and our members deeply care about the university and their mission."
University president Mark Emmert just answered some tough questions on Tuesday night. Students and staffers want other money-saving options, including the president cutting his own $900,000 paycheck.
The University already eliminated 36 vacant positions, laid off 34 people and bumped down16 positions from full-time to part-time.
Bundrock said all things considered, giving up a pay raise wasn't a hard decision.
"I can't imagine me getting a raise and somebody else losing a job. It doesn't make any sense as a society to allow that to happen," she said.
The university has already announced cuts to fundraising and alumni programs due to a downturn in donor activity.