All GSU workers deserve a living wage. However, with over 1,200 full-time GSU employees making less than $21/hr ($43,680 annually) in 2021 [1], GSU effectively forces its employees to either work supplementary jobs or live with perpetual financial insecurity. According to the Economic Policy Institute living wage calculator, a single adult with no children in the metro-Atlanta area needs an annual salary of at least $43,680 to afford housing, transportation, healthcare, taxes, and other necessities [2]. That amounts to $21.82 hourly.
Graduate workers are also precariously paid at GSU, with some stipends far lower than the cost of living. Stipend amounts and funding sources vary by department, and underpayment for graduate workers is structural. Graduate students are critical employees of the university, and should be respected and valued as such.
Georgia State University has a responsibility to pay workers a decent living wage, and in its mission states that “The university provides an outstanding education and exceptional support for students from all backgrounds” [3]. This mission statement is in stark contrast to the reality of conditions cultivated on campus for both students and workers because of low wages and lack of worker voices in decision-making spaces. It is time for Georgia State University to return the investment that workers make to our institution and our community by paying a living wage to all! We, the United Campus Workers of Georgia at Georgia State University, call upon President Brian Blake to increase the wages for all workers on campus. We demand:
(1) Raise the wage floor for full time salaried workers to $44,000/year and the hourly wage floor to $21/hour for ALL workers, including part-time and student workers.
(2) Adjust compensation so that no GSU employee can make more than 10 times the University’s lowest-paid full-time employee.
(3) Establish pay parity for part-time faculty; pay them a per course rate that equals at least 10% of the average full-time faculty salary.
(4) Raise graduate worker assistantship stipends to $31,200/year (or $15,600/semester).
(5) Address compression and inversion for ALL workers; commit a percentage of the GSU budget each year to salary equity adjustments.

Sources:
[1] National Center for Education Statistics
[2] Economic Policy Institute Family Budget Calculator, March 2022. Data are in 2020 dollars
[3] https://www.gsu.edu/mission-statement/