Excellence includes staff
A living wage is not a handout. It is not charity, it is not generosity and it is not a helping hand. A living wage is much more that that. It is the right to equitable life - it is the general standard of living for a person to survive with the most basic worldly needs.
Living wage campaigns have hit stride across the nation, marking universities such as Georgetown, Harvard and Yale. On Miami's campus, it is the obligation of our community as well as the university to pay workers a decent wage. The fact that the workers who clean our residence halls, work our university grounds, and run our school from the inside out are living in poverty is unjust and inexcusable.
A living wage, according to www.livingwageaction.org, is "the most basic costs of living without need for government support or poverty programs." It is comprised of seven basic living costs - housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare, taxes and other basic necessities, such as clothing - that a person working full-time must have to survive. It is crucial to understand that a living wage is only viable if it is indexed to inflation annually. Establishing a concrete number on paper will not help employees if that number is not treated as a changing amount.
What would this mean for Miami? Starting wages would be raised accordingly so that no full-time employee of Miami would have to depend on outside assistance for basic living needs. The wages of a full-time staff worker would be enough to support him or her throughout life without the need for government aid.
Miami employs workers who are taking up one or more other jobs just to survive. For those who work upwards of 80 hours a week, other opportunities are not only impractical but also nearly impossible. What good are class offerings or "job enrichment" programs for university employees when they have no time to do it? What good are tuition benefits for themselves or their children when they can't afford dinner or an oil change, let alone college textbooks and other college expenses?
The American dream, for all intensive purposes, may involve the white picket fence, a home in the suburbs and a two-car garage. But these workers are redefining this dream to mean simply a livable standard, free from exploitation and free to be able to provide for their families.
According to the Economic Policy Institute's basic family budget calculator found online at www.epinet.org, a family of two working parents and two children living in the Hamilton-Middletown area should gross a living wage of approximately $44, 376. This would equate to each working parent earning $10.67 per hour. These calculations are based on a lean standard of living that includes the above seven components but not savings, funds for emergencies or renters' insurance to protect against fire, flood or theft. Such basic living situations are certainly applicable to Miami employees who live mostly in the Hamilton-Middletown area due to expensive Oxford housing costs.
In Miami's continuous striving toward the marketplace of ideas and critical thinking, it would be an impressionable step backward if we do not pay our workers a living wage. If we want to place ourselves beside the likes of Georgetown, Harvard and Yale as models for education, why not be dedicated to our own model? If we want to fully embrace this notion of excellence, it would be disgraceful to exclude our staff workers. A living wage policy needs to be implemented at Miami. It would be a pretense to show off our beautifully manicured campus to visitors while the employee who landscapes it lives in poverty.
Ben Spanner spannebj@muohio.edu
Balance must be struck
The ability to obtain the basic necessities of life - food, clothing and shelter - should absolutely be available to every American. A seemingly logical solution to this moral question is to raise the wages of those who struggle the most in supporting families or loved ones. Here at Miami University, a campaign is being waged by a coalition of students and Miami workers to do just that. While their intent is entirely noble, the effect of such an increase in hourly wages would hurt both the worker and student.
Proponents of the "living wage" increase at Miami and nationally fail to acknowledge the anti-poverty programs currently in place that provide additional income at no cost to the employer who creates jobs. With tax season now in full swing, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a timely display of an innovative policy that directly targets poverty in the United States. The EITC is a prime example of an anti-poverty program that serves essentially as a wage subsidy for low income families. For those working Americans living below the poverty line with dependent children, the EITC can generate as much as $4,400 in needed income from the government. But in a scenario with a "living wage" increase, a low income family's eligibility for EITC would subsequently decrease. Thus, it is unclear if a direct wage increase would even benefit low income families in its totality.
A much touted comparison is made between hourly wages at Bowling Green State University and Miami University to illustrate the point that Miami is severely underpaying its workers. But this comparison is economically misguided. For the potential worker in Butler County seeking a new job, the key comparison is not between Miami and other institutions of higher learning in Ohio, but how Miami rates against other comparable employers who hire similar applicants in the area. In that regard, Miami is not undervaluing its workers at all. According to the Economic Development Department of Butler County, the average hourly wage rate for a cashier is $7.73. Miami starts all full-time employees at $8.80 per hour, more than a full dollar per hour above what the average cashier would come to expect in Butler County. Consequently, Miami is not denigrating its employees but rather offering competitive wage rates in the area.
Nonetheless, if Miami University were to enact wage increases, two undesirable options develop: either workers are laid off or tuition costs rise. In a time when an overt budget crunch already exists, Miami would be forced to lay off workers if it could not expand its budget to meet the higher cost for salaries. The second option is ideal for the workers but at a premium to the students who may be struggling to afford a Miami education. Skyrocketing tuition is already a serious concern at Miami; the problem would become significantly compounded if Miami were to abruptly inflate the wages of its workers.
It is in the best interest of everyone at Miami for the university to offer a hospitable work environment and competitive wages but at the same time ensure no undue burden is placed on students to pay for increased wages. Wages should be increased to keep pace with inflation and the cost of living, but not to meet emotional appeals of other members of the Miami community. Without thinking through the possible impact of such a wage increase, both the worker and student will be harmed in the end.
brian graney graneybc@muohio.edu
