Mississippi State University Living Wage Petition
Mississippi state provost, David Shaw, and President Mark Keenum
A full time job should keep you out of poverty--not in it. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the salary for a "modest yet adequate standard of living" for a single-parent household in Oktibbeha County is $48,297 or $24 an hour. However, over 500 full-time employees at Mississippi State University and graduate workers earn less than an adequate standard of living pay. Not only do many MSU workers earn a poverty salary that none can afford to live well on but Mississippi State provides seldom and scant raises. As a result, employees with decades of service make effectively less than when they started as the cost of living in the Starkville area has skyrocketed over the last decade.
Sponsored by
To:
Mississippi state provost, David Shaw, and President Mark Keenum
From:
[Your Name]
United Campus Workers of Mississippi (UCWMS) is committed to ensuring dignity, fairness, and equity for all who work for the University System of Mississippi. We demand that Mississippi State commit to the following:
1. Raise the minimum pay for all full time employees to $24 an hour or $48,300 annual salary
2. Provide standardized, 12-month stipends for grad students of at least $31,200 after fees
3. Guarantee an annual cost of living adjustment of 2.5%.
Let Mississippi State know that you support a living wage for campus workers by signing this petition.