FAMU faculty and staff receive word of $1,000 salary increase

 

According to a memo sent out by President James Ammons, the university announced that a base salary increase in the amount of $1,000 will be granted to each eligible salaried employee and reflected retroactively as appropriate for the November 5 pay date. 

The only employees eligible for this raise, however, are faculty and staff not under the United Faculty of Florida Collective Bargaining Agreement, which means the vast majority of FAMU professors and FAMU Department of Public Safety officers.

The salary increase would apply only to clerical, janitorial, administrative and professional (technical) employees.

“To selectively provide raises to support staff and the administration… creates divisiveness in the community,” said Elizabeth Davenport, chair of the FAMU UFF.

“Although the university is still faced with challenging economic conditions, finding a means of rewarding employees to the fullest extent possible within budgetary limitations has been paramount to FAMU and its Board of Trustees,” said Ammons. “In recent years, Florida A&M University has been restricted in its ability to provide monetary incentives for employees due to budgetary constraints.”

According to the document, the base salary increase for part-time eligible employees will be prorated based on the full-time equivalency of the position. 

To receive the salary increase, the eligible employee must have been employed by the university on or before May 1.  

“We can’t talk in detail about what is going on with employees covered by the union,” said Sharon Saunders, chief communications officer. “They are still undergoing the collective bargaining process and no final decisions have been made.” 

Unfortunately, this base salary raise also does not apply to any students that are employed by the university under Other Persons Services (OPS) classification. This means students that have been awarded work-study or hold a paid position on campus will not benefit from this. 

Davenport said she felt as if the faculty is being pressured to take a counter proposal.

“It is a slap in the face,” said Davenport.  We want to work with him as partner.”