Spring Break
UConn professors face pay cuts to keep jobs
Kate Monohan
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: News
Due to the poor economy, the UConn Chapter of the American Association for University Professors (AAUP) is voting this week on a new wage agreement that will reallocate funds in order to promote job security and to maintain health insurance and pensions for senior faculty.
The most divisive part this of wage concession agreement is that it will take 3 percent of the salaries of junior faculty (those that have worked at UConn for less than five years) and move it into a trust fund that will pay the into senior faculty's pensions and health insurance beginning in 2010, according to the agreement, which can be found on the AAUP's web site.
The agreement is not only for UConn's AAUP; it is also a part of a greater agreement up for a vote that encompasses all Connecticut state workers.
The UConn portion of the agreement will freeze salaries for the 2009-2010 year, mandate10 furlough days (days without pay), and delay the pay raise that was previously promised to faculty for 2010, according to AAUP Executive Director Edward C. Marth.
The 3 percent pay reallocation applies to all workers in state positions that have less than five years of service, not just UConn faculty, Marth said.
At UConn, this 3 percent will be taken from junior faculty annually over a 10-year period. Contributions will be refunded if a faculty member leaves UConn with less than 10 years of vesting time, according to the agreement.
The terms will be voted on until May 6, and need approval from the Board of Trustees, the Connecticut General Assembly and the faculty and staff members in AAUP. Two out of three of these groups need to approve the wage concessions in order for the agreement to pass.
Members of the AAUP aren't happy with the proposed agreement, but feel that with the dire economy, they must accept the changes for lack of a better alternative.
"No one is happy. It is a compromise. But I remain convinced that it is in the best interest of all our members, especially junior people," Thomas Bontly, president of the AAUP, said in an e-mail. "If it falls apart, they [the governor and
The most divisive part this of wage concession agreement is that it will take 3 percent of the salaries of junior faculty (those that have worked at UConn for less than five years) and move it into a trust fund that will pay the into senior faculty's pensions and health insurance beginning in 2010, according to the agreement, which can be found on the AAUP's web site.
The agreement is not only for UConn's AAUP; it is also a part of a greater agreement up for a vote that encompasses all Connecticut state workers.
The UConn portion of the agreement will freeze salaries for the 2009-2010 year, mandate10 furlough days (days without pay), and delay the pay raise that was previously promised to faculty for 2010, according to AAUP Executive Director Edward C. Marth.
The 3 percent pay reallocation applies to all workers in state positions that have less than five years of service, not just UConn faculty, Marth said.
At UConn, this 3 percent will be taken from junior faculty annually over a 10-year period. Contributions will be refunded if a faculty member leaves UConn with less than 10 years of vesting time, according to the agreement.
The terms will be voted on until May 6, and need approval from the Board of Trustees, the Connecticut General Assembly and the faculty and staff members in AAUP. Two out of three of these groups need to approve the wage concessions in order for the agreement to pass.
Members of the AAUP aren't happy with the proposed agreement, but feel that with the dire economy, they must accept the changes for lack of a better alternative.
"No one is happy. It is a compromise. But I remain convinced that it is in the best interest of all our members, especially junior people," Thomas Bontly, president of the AAUP, said in an e-mail. "If it falls apart, they [the governor and
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