'We need a raise': CU Boulder faculty, staff walk out to demand higher wages

Sep. 14—Tracy Ferrell, an associate teaching professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been a faculty member there for about 20 years. She said she's consistently seen wages fail keep up with the cost of living.

Ferrell said faculty members nearing end of their career should not be living paycheck to paycheck, unable to afford a mortgage or a new car.

"We're just struggling," Ferrell said. "We live paycheck to paycheck, even though we are moving toward the end of our career, and there's no possibility to get higher wages. We're just stuck where we are."

Ferrell was one of dozens of faculty, staff and students who gathered Thursday afternoon for a walkout outside the University Memorial Center to demand higher wages.

The United Campus Workers union organized the walkout and created a petition that's circulating online with four demands for CU Boulder administration.

Demands include: A 20% cost of living adjustment for all graduate workers and staff at CU Boulder; a minimum per class rate of $14,000 for non-tenure track faculty in all departments; a $10,000 raise for each promotion from assistant to associate to full teaching professor, and an annual 6% cost of living adjustment added into the contracts for all graduate student workers, staff and non-tenure track faculty.

CU Boulder spokesperson Steve Hurlbert said there are multiple shared governance groups that are elected representing faculty and staff on campus, including Boulder Faculty Assembly, Staff Council, the Graduate and Professional Student Government and the CU Student Government.

"UCW is not a bargaining unit on campus or university governance group, and we will continue to address employee concerns through our established shared governance groups," Hurlbert said. "CU Boulder continues to take meaningful action to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff through a number of salary and wage increases and benefit enhancements undertaken in recent years."

CU Boulder is under no legal obligation to recognize the UCW union. The UCW is an unrecognized union, and state law does not grant higher education workers collective bargaining rights.

Adjunct lecturer and union member Rachel Wood said she feels "quite disenfranchised" and not compensated for her labor.

"I love what I do and I love teaching, and I'd like to do it for a long time, but it's hard when I'm not making enough money," Wood said.

Riley Bartlett, also an adjunct lecturer, said all the lecturers, contingent faculty and undergraduate and graduate student workers bring something important to their work and should be compensated fairly.

"I feel like I'm not getting compensated fairly for the classes that I'm teaching and the labor that I do for the students," Bartlett said.

Bartlett barely makes ends meet living in Lafayette, citing increasing costs of rent, groceries and other basic needs.

"It feels really important for me to be out here in support of everyone and to fight for myself and living wages for myself," Bartlett said.

Non-tenure track faculty typically earn less than tenure track faculty at any higher education institution. Associate Teaching Professor Eric Klinger said at CU Boulder, the starting pay is much higher for tenure track faculty and the teaching loads are lower, in part because of the expectation they're doing research.

"But what that means is that non-tenure track faculty carry that weight for them," Klinger said. "They're carrying the burden of teaching all of these extra courses but getting paid less per course than a tenure track faculty."

On top of that, Ferrell said, non-tenure track faculty, for the most part, have the same qualifications. She said they all have PhDs, have written books, give presentations at conferences and participate in research and service to the university, except they do it without the same pay and carry a higher teaching workload.

"It's the same students, the grades count just the same, so there's a real issue there," Klinger said.

"We need a raise," Ferrell said.

Ferrell said the money to pay them a livable wage is there, but it's about how the money is allocated, pointing at a major building renovation project across from the UMC plaza.

"Football has always made a lot of money, administration has always made a lot of money," Ferrell said. "I don't begrudge anyone making their money, but it's really about how we're the ones that are the backbone of the university. I think what we've seen is just year after year of skyrocketing cost and people just can't afford to live anymore."

In terms of next steps, Ferrell said the group is going to wait and see how the University responds to the walkout and the petition and see if they're willing to negotiate. At this time, the union is not planning a strike.

"We are recognizing our power as a group and as a union and it's time to be seen and heard," Wood said.