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Richard Martinez has been on UNM’s custodial staff for seven years and has only seen a pay raise once.
“I am not real happy,” Martinez said. “I wish they’d change their minds about raising wages. Prices go up and we’re not making the money to pay our bills.”
The UNM Labor Coalition drafted a petition signed by more than 1,000 students, staff and faculty members that speaks to the pay issue at UNM. The petition, which calls for a raise in all UNM employee salaries and a living wage for hourly labor, was delivered to Gov. Susana Martinez last week, said Doris Williams, a spokeswoman for the coalition. A living wage is not a specific number, but a wage that allows employees to live above the poverty line.
Other elements of the petition include a cost-of-living increase, a clause to honor commitments to retirees and a clause to keep tuition affordable via grants and the Lottery Scholarship.
Susan Velasquez, director of constituent services at the office of the governor, said the governor received the petition but was already giving attention to legislative bills that addressed the same issues. Among these is the state budget bill, which calls for a 1 percent pay increase for all state workers; a bill that adjusts public employee retirement benefits in accordance with the cost-of-living index; and a bill raising the statewide minimum wage. Martinez has said she opposes the minimum wage bill, but has not vetoed it yet.
Kayla Russo, a student employee who works in the Student Union Building, said she has been involved with UNM for several years. She remembered signing and supporting a similar petition last year, but has not seen results of that effort.
“I have been at UNM for five years and my sister was here two years before that,” Russo said. “After seven years of UNM politics, I feel like it won’t pass.”
Judy Hansen, a librarian and copyright permission specialist for the Fine Arts and Design Library, said she is not very optimistic about the petition.
“We may be looking at another couple of hard years,” Hansen said.
But she agreed that a pay raise is warranted.
“We have not had a raise in four or five years, and in that time, parking, insurance costs, everything has gone up,” Hansen said. “I like my job and I am grateful for it, but I haven’t had a raise in a long time.”
Gordon Hodge, an associate professor of psychology, said a number of roadblocks stand in the way of receiving more funding for employee salaries.
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“We want to do a lot of things for a lot of people,” Hodge said. “But there doesn’t seem to be sufficient funds. I don’t know where the state would get the money. Some other part would have to lose money.”
Hodge also said he felt a petition signed by only those with close ties to UNM may not be as compelling as one signed by a broader base of people, such as other citizens of the city or state.
UNM regent Jack Fortner agreed with faculty and staff about the necessity of pay raises.
“They deserve their wages,” Fortner said. “State workers are getting a 1 percent pay raise and I think that should be at least the starting point for UNM employees. The reason that UNM is such a good university is we have good professors. If we don’t give them raises, they’re going to go somewhere else.”
Fortner said the regents are making higher wages for employees a priority, but funds are an issue.
“If the money was there, I’d say ‘absolutely,’” Fortner said. “It is kind of early to tell. I hope we can do enough to keep (employees) satisfied.”
