It’s time to leap into the 21st century with updated wages for Bobcat workers! A full-time job should keep you out of poverty--not in it. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the salary for a "modest yet adequate standard of living" for a single adult with no children in Baldwin County is $18.75 an hour. For one adult with two children, it’s $38.97. However, hundreds of full- and part-time employees, graduate workers, and student employees at GCSU earn less than fair pay. Too many staff members currently make less than $15 an hour, while some student workers earn only $7.25 per hour. Grad workers receive a stipend of just $6,000- $8,000/ year, and the per class rate for adjunct faculty is still abysmally low.

Not only do many workers earn a poverty salary, but the recent cost of living adjustments by the state have been the first in almost 30 years. Many long-time workers have watched new people get hired at higher rates than what they’re making. As a result, employees with decades of service make less than when they started as the cost of living rises and they make less than their peers who’ve been around a shorter time. Also, the COLA did not apply to part-time, graduate, and student employees. Adjunct and graduate student wages have been stagnant since the early 2000s, which is not the y2k vibe we want for our Bobcat community!

The City of Milledgeville implemented a $15/hour floor for their workforce last year. Georgia College is in a position to be a leader in our community by committing to a thriving wage for our employees. Let GCSU President Cathy Cox know that you support a living wage for campus workers by signing this petition.