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| Jacque Lenz | Chief Photographer |
Appalachian Food Services employee
Margaret Matlin swipes a student's AppCard in
Cascades Cafe Monday. Permanent and full-time
staff making less than $18,312 per year will
receive a one-time pay increase this month, Director
of Human Resource Services Leonard W. Johnson
said.
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by Leslie Rasimas
Staff
Writer
Sixty-four full-time Appalachian State University staff members
will receive a one-time permanent pay raise this month.
Director of Human Resource Services Leonard W. Johnson said
the pay raise would help those employees making less than
$18,312.
“This will affect those employees who are permanent
and full-time making less than $18,312. The one-time salary
adjustment will bring their current salary to $18,312,”
Johnson said.
The salary increase will appear in the Feb. 27 paycheck,
he said.
Staff members who work in housing, building services and
food services will be the recipients of the salary increase,
he said.
Johnson said those staff employees not making $18,312 do
not because they are either not full-time or within their
first three months of work at the university.
The salary increase stems from Gov. Mike Easley’s approval
of raises for the lowest-paid state workers, according to
the Charlotte Observer.
Money from an administrative reserve fund will increase the
salaries of state workers such as university housekeepers
and grounds workers. Easley’s goal is for all workers
to earn a minimum of $18,312, according to the Charlotte
Observer.
“[University housekeepers and groundskeepers] are the
ones who have been affected the most by the lack of regular
salary increases in recent years and the increased cost of
health care,” Dan Gerlach, Easley’s senior budget
adviser, told the Charlotte Observer.
According to Human Resource Services, Appalachian State’s
grounds workers are hired at $18,065.
The university’s housekeepers are hired at $16,957.
A study by Penn State University compiled figures on North
Carolina’s living wage, a number including costs of
food, child and medical care, transportation and housing.
According to the study, North Carolina’s living wage
is $27,870 for a family of three.
University of North Carolina President Molly C. Broad sent
a memo to the chancellors of the 16 public universities at
the start of January stating approximately 600 workers within
the system would receive a raise, according to the Charlotte
Observer.
Broad’s memo said Easley’s decision would help
those employees who do not receive salary increases in a
time of budget crunches.
“This marks a critically important step in addressing
the salary needs of our lowest-paid support staff,”
Broad said in the memo.
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