Harvard University students recently brought attention to the fact that all employees of the school were not being paid a living wage, according to The New York Times. Harvard has since corrected the issue, but this study raises the question as to whether or not college employees, specifically Geneseo staff, are being paid adequately.
In Livingston County, the living wage of two adults is about $38,000 a year or $19 an hour according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator.
There are many employees at Geneseo, including cleaners and janitors, who are paid as much as $10,000 below the living wage, according to records from the New York State Comptroller’s Office.
There are also part time professors who do not make a living wage, according to Wes Kennison, president of the Geneseo Chapter of United University Professions.
“If you’re talking about the folks who don’t earn a living wage and in academia, generally you’re most usually talking about part time academics,” Kennison said.
The UUP set a minimum pay for these part time professors in their new contracts, a first for the union, according to Kennison. While it doesn’t equate to a living wage, it’s a first step.
The group most affected by not being paid a living wage are members of the Civil Service Employees Association union, which primarily represents janitorial staff and secretarial staff.
The CSEA has a ranking system with a total of 25 rankings that decides how much are paid based on the position they are hired for and how long they have worked at the school.
Vice President of the Geneseo CSEA Chapter Melissa Colonhill receives a salary that fits into the sixth rung in the 25-ranking system. The sixth rung could potentially support one person, but also supporting a spouse and a child is likely not possible.
On top of salaries, workers in the CSEA union also receive benefits such as healthcare and retirement pay. This addition affects the overall salary of the union, according to President of CSEA Todd White.
“What you see on paper is actually lower than what we technically to make,” White said.
Both UUP and CSEA representatives agreed that the issue is SUNY wide and not just a problem on the Geneseo campus.
Students have expressed differing opinions on this issue. Some students, like sociology major sophomore Jake Graves, think that while benefits should be considered, they don’t fully account for the gap between what campus workers are being paid and the living wage for the area.
“I think since they work with the university those benefits should come along with a living wage,” Graves said.
Others, like international relations major senior Brian Herman, believe that benefits compensate for the lack of pay.
“There is a fair aspect because there are benefits in addition to the wage,” Herman said. “There are benefits [for] healthcare, there are benefits [for] retirement, there are benefits [for] other things that the state does take care of.”
Pre-economics major sophomore Eli Avellino argues that all employers should pay their workers a living wage, especially when it’s the government that’s employing them.
“They are working for the state, any kind of civil service as your job probably should grant you a full living wage,” Avellino said. “Nobody who is working for the people should be making less than a living wage.”
Avellino similarly highlighted the impact of poorly paid professors on students’ education.
“I have to imagine it affects the kinds of professors we get,” Avellino said. “In theory, better professors would demand a higher wage because they could go to places who are willing to pay them more."