|
Submitted by Gerald Thomas, Assembly Member and Chair of the Salary and Compensation Committee
Discussing employee compensation always seems to be an unsavory topic. Just ask the managers, negotiators and employees of United Parcel Service. Before I go further into my main topic, I feel a little background information would be helpful.
Last week, my five-year-old son informed me that a dollar-a-week allowance was simply insufficient; ten dollars, he professed, would be more appropriate. Our son receives this dollar for taking the household garbage to the street for pick-up. The first word that came to mind was "extortion," and then I realized that he must have been rubbing elbows with the children of faculty members at the local day care center. So far we haven't settled on an amount for his allowance increase, though I have communicated an increase would be possible if he were willing to accept additional responsibilities. Next week I suspect we'll go into fact finding.
The next scenario I wanted to mention concerns employee-employer relations that I observed years ago as a teenager. I unofficially and informally evaluated the management of an independent trucking company. The proprietors were very good at marketing their freight hauling services and maintaining their trucks. They were not, however, very good in employee relations or financial management. The company liked to recruit teenagers from a local vocational school, teaching these young lads the trucking business from the ground up, i.e. washing trucks with high pressure water hoses and soap. Some would say an honest days pay for an honest days work (at minimum wage $2.35 per hour). One of the owners joyfully told me the story of how one young man had approached him (who happened to be all wet from washing trucks and a bit irritated about his working conditions) and vocally insisted upon a 10 cent per hour pay increase or else he would quit, period! The owner politely informed the teenager that he was in fact "all washed up" and therefore fired. The pay raise was not the issue. The method of message delivery was. Well, the teenager didn't get his pay raise and he did lose his job. The employer went through the process and cost of finding a suitable low-cost replacement. Needless to say, the trucking company did not gain a reputation for paying well and for several different reasons "down the road' ultimately terminated business operations.
Moving forward and looking at compensation practices here at Rutgers, it is difficult to grasp the rationale behind several policies currently in effect. Let me start off by discussing faculty compensation. I realize that a well-paid faculty is a must for any institution of higher learning, especially if long term success is expected. For this reason, I appreciate the "intellectual capital" our faculty offers; it is the cornerstone of what makes Rutgers a well-respected university. Also, I do not have any qualms about current levels of faculty compensation nor over what they are striving for through collective bargaining. A significant issue that I do want to comment on is that students do not attend college for the "educational experience" only. I believe, rather, that students attend institutions of higher learning for the overall "college experience." The college experience includes more than classroom instruction. It encompasses many things students and alumni value such as: sports, fraternities, sororities, living on campus, attending art exhibits, campus entertainment and numerous social events. While staff employees may not be directly involved in providing educational instruction, they certainly are involved in delivering services for the overall college experience. If the university wants to offer a quality college experience to its constituency, the personnel policies need to be more focused on hiring, retaining and promoting talented and skilled staff. Without going into great detail, our current compensation system has, in my opinion , outlived its usefulness and effectiveness. We currently have over 1000 employees (55% of the APS staff) maxed out at step 8 without any hope of seeing any significant pay raises, cost of living allowances or promotion. This situation has also diminished the effectiveness of the Merit Award Program. We now have situations where people have received merit awards in lieu of pay increases because there are no other options to reward a job well done. This detracts from the overall effectiveness of the Merit Award Program, because funds are being channeled to compensate individuals for reasons other than meritorious performance. I also express the view that the current compensation system is having a negative impact on employee morale and productivity. No pay raises -- no productivity increases; sometimes just the opposite.
I am hopeful that Rutgers will be proactive in bringing about a new staff compensation program that is more equitable. I feel that eliminating the current compensation program is a must. It is unfair to the employees at step 8 who are still unselfishly contributing to Rutgers while other employees receive annual pay raises. Our current compensation system does not adequately address the effects of inflation on salaries, nor does it adjust to compensate employees in high demand occupations. Finally, to the dismay of many individuals, there are no policies aimed at career development or internal promotions. Not changing the compensation and promotion policies will eventually cause people to seek employment elsewhere when the economy and job market improves. Simply put, economic declines and recessions don't last forever.
In closing, I have always held the belief that labor disputes and confrontations over
compensation issues are unproductive and costly to everyone, both labor and management. If half the effort were expended in finding viable solutions rather than, figuratively speaking, "kicking each other in the shins," I am confident individual pay raises and organizational cash flow could be improved. With the end of the recent UPS strike, I know that both managers and employees saw and are still seeing a lot of red ink. I'm not sure if anyone really won that particular contest.
I invite all staff employees interested in voicing their opinions and concerns to attend the next Administrative Assembly Meeting scheduled for October 9 in Room 102 of the Labor Education Center at 12 noon.
Return to Table of Contents
Go to top of page
The following letter was received from Norma Sawyer, a much beloved former employee of Rutgers and an active member of the Assembly
for many years:
Hi!
You asked, how is retirement? I sense that you really don’t expect a
stock answer. So, here goes...
Retirement is great, provided that you recognize the need to control the
simplification of your lifestyle. Personally, I found that the transition
into the state of retirement was like purgatory. You’re distanced from the
setting and the very people that you miss the most, and you mourn the loss of
your professional identity as well as the safety net or refuge provided by
the workplace. All of a sudden, you are free falling and unaccustomed to
acting only in your own best interest.
It takes a lot of thought and focused effort to retrain your thought
process and to develop a more appropriate mind set. For me, it meant
reevaluating many of my long-held values and beliefs, dramatically altering
some and completely abandoning others. Otherwise, I would be unable to
resolve my separation anxiety and establish a new mind set.
Presently, I feel very much at peace with myself and my situation. I have
found my comfort zone and feel more relaxed than ever. Hours and weeks
escape me. So, I’m either crazy or on the right track. In any event, I like
the new luxury of unstructured time and I enjoy its use, unencumbered by any
need to account for its disposition or outcome. Well, that’s it for now.
Miss you.
Norma
Return to Table of Contents
by Gerald Thomas
Your Assembly delegates entreat you to take an active part in your own
employment by attending campus meetings called by your Campus Leader. These
meetings afford you an opportunity to bring up issues that you would like to
see placed before the floor of the Assembly or brought to the attention of
one of its committees. It also gives you an opportunity to discuss issues and
concerns and to learn about what is happening in the Assembly. REMEMBER, the
Assembly is your voice to the University's central administration.
Return to Table of Contents
Part 1 of a two-part article submitted by Paulette
Ritter, Camden Delegate
(For those of you who have forgotten, or in fact never knew, what the
Assembly is and how it operates, the following thumbnail sketch will bring
you up to speed.)
The Administrative Assembly consists of representatives elected by the
eligible employees in the administrative, professional, and supervisory staff
positions. Meetings are held regularly for the purpose of discussing issues
of general concern to our constituency.
We exist for the purpose of representing, advocating for, and recommending
appropriate action on behalf of our constituency in matters of University
policies, procedures, and practices. The Administrative Assembly in its
advisory capacity assists the University administration and the President by
contributing to the revision and development of University policies,
procedures and practices.
Each campus is represented on the Assembly in proportion to the total
number of eligible administrators on each campus. Declaration of candidacy
is made available through campus mail to each eligible administrator in the
fall. Interested individuals declare their candidacy for election by signing
and returning the candidacy form to the membership committee. An election is
held every November on each campus if sufficient individuals have filed to
warrant an election. As delegates resign, their seats are filled for the
remainder of their term through appointment. Delegates are expected to hold
an office and/or serve on at least one committee of the Assembly.
Return to Table of Contents
NOTE: The editor apologizes for an the incorrect by-line in the
last issue.. The article on the Public Employees Pension Fund was written
by Claudia Farris, esteemed delegate from the Douglass campus.
Return to Table of Contents
Go to top of page
Return to The Administrator Home Page
Please send comments, complaints or suggestions to the
Webmaster.
|