Don’t Balance the Budget on the Backs of U of M Staff and Students
Tell President Bruininks:
Don’t Balance the Budget on the Backs of Staff and Students
Rally: Thursday Jan 21
Noon
In Front of Morrill Hall
President Bruininks and senior administrators want to balance the budget on the backs of staff and students. Some of their plans include:
— Furloughs: President Bruininks told senior administrators that he intends to make staff take 10 furlough days (unpaid days off) over the next year. This is a pay cut for hourly staff at the university and we can’t afford it. Pay and holidays are negotiated with the unions on campus, and cannot be unilaterally dictated.
— Layoffs: Layoffs are already taking place at the U. Hundreds of frontline staff have been laid off since the hiring pause began, while over 250 administrators continue to make more than $200,000 per year.
Layoffs mean that there are fewer staff to do the important work of helping students navigate the university system from admissions to graduation. The work is still there, and has increased as admissions have gone up. The remaining staff are forced to work harder and are working through breaks and lunches. This is not legal, nor sustainable and ultimately students will suffer as services and support decrease.
— Attacks on benefits: University administrators are discussing ways to cut our hard-earned benefits. Their ideas include cutting pensions and cutting the tuition benefit for graduate teaching and research assistants.
— Making education unaffordable: Between 2000-2007, undergraduate tuition went up over 68%. The administration wants to pit students against staff by telling us it’s either tuition increases or layoffs. This is a false choice.
As the university faces increasing budget cuts they are putting the burden on the backs of the lowest paid staff and students rather than those that can afford it – the administrators, of whom over 250 earn more than $200,000 each year.
Join us as we rally the first week of the new semester to tell the administration that we’ve had enough, and it’s time for the University’s priorities to change – CHOP FROM THE TOP! No furloughs, no more layoffs of frontline staff, and no tuition hikes!
