Temple faculty want wage increases to close equity gaps, so lowest earners would get the biggest bumps

The union representing Temple University faculty is asking for wage increases that will make up for inflation and reward those who earn the least with the highest percentage hikes to try and close equity gaps.

“If Temple is committed to equity, those are the people who need the biggest bump,” said Jeffrey Doshna, president of the Temple Association of University Professionals, adding that many of those in that lower tier are women and people of color. “It’s a bold proposal that addresses decades of inequity.”

Under the proposal, faculty earning $75,000 or less would qualify for the largest percentage raises, including 20% in the first year retroactive to July 1. Percentages would get smaller as salaries get higher.

» READ MORE: Temple and its faculty will begin contract negotiations

The university is considering the proposal for tiered raises, said Ken Kaiser, Temple’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.

“We understand that equity is a really important priority for TAUP and something we are now working internally to try to make sure we address as we work to respond to the union’s proposal,” he said. “We are open to it.”

The two sides have been negotiating since August, while faculty work under the terms of the previous pact which expired in October. Agreement has been reached on several noneconomic contract issues, the university said last month, and both sides recently began making wage-increase proposals.

There’s been no public talk of a strike; the union has not taken a strike authorization vote. Kaiser said progress is being made.

“We are ready to meet as often as possible,” Kaiser said. A strike is “something we’d like to avoid, and I’m sure it’s something they would like to avoid as well.”

» READ MORE: Temple grad students overwhelmingly ratify agreement, ending their six-week strike

The union has scheduled an informational picket and news conference on Tuesday to address what it called the administration’s “failure to bargain over job security.”

The Temple University Graduate Students Association held a six-week strike last spring, which roiled the university and was followed by the resignation of former president Jason Wingard. Over the life of the four-year contract, which was ratified a year ago, the minimum pay for graduate students increased about 30% — closer to 40% for some in the lower tier.

Temple has said that it offered full-time faculty 4% across-the-board raises retroactive to July 1 with 1% for merit increases in the first year. In each of the next four years, faculty would have received 2% raises with an additional 1% merit pool. But that offer was conditional upon ratification by March 31, which didn’t happen.

Faculty are seeking much higher wage increases with differentiation based on what faculty earn. Those who earn $75,000 or less would get a 20% hike in the first year, then 13.5% the next year, followed by 10% and 7%, Doshna said.

Those earning between $75,000 and $100,000 would get annual percentage increases of 13.5%, 10%, 7%, and 5%. In the next tier, between $100,000 and $150,000, the percentage increases would be 10%, 7%, 5%, and 5%. And those at salaries above $150,000 would receive 10% the first year and 5% in each of the subsequent three years.

The union also asked for raises in the merit pool and an increase in the minimum for adjuncts, from $1,600 per credit hour to $2,500 in the first year, $2,700 in the second year, $2,900 in the third, and $3,100 in the final year. Any adjunct or non-tenure faculty with a terminal degree in their field would be hired at the assistant professor rate of $2,700 per credit hour in the first year, and $2,900, $3,100, and $3,300 for subsequent years under the proposal.

“That means right now, an assistant professor who is teaching a three-credit class would be making a little less than $6,000 per class,” he said.

Temple earlier this fiscal year was facing a $90 million deficit in its $1.2 billion budget, but was able to close that by eliminating staff vacancies and the use of one-time reserves, Kaiser said in an email to staff last month. He has asked every central university support unit to cut 5% from their budgets for next year.

Doshna said the university could draw more funds from its endowment to cover faculty raises. The endowment stands at about $900 million, Kaiser said.

“They can make a minor change there for a few years until we rebound on enrollment,” Doshna said.

Kaiser acknowledged that Temple could draw more than its current 4.25%, but cautioned against it. The University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University, which are both state-related universities like Temple, have multibillion endowments.

“That is where we would love to be,” he said.

Doshna said the union is also pushing for job security for its adjunct and non-tenure track professors.

“Job security is a core issue,” Doshna said. “Raises without job security doesn’t do it for us. We need both.”