We, the undersigned, call on UT Austin President Jay Hartzell to approve a $10,000 across-the-board pay raise for all UT Austin employees. A pay raise for EVERY university worker at UT Austin is critical. Merit pay cannot replace regular, dollar-amount, across-the-board pay raises. University worker pay has stagnated as the cost of living has continued to go up. Some of the lowest paid workers in Texas are now at state universities, making just over $20,000 for full-time work. Turnover is increasing at UT Austin as many of our committed colleagues can no longer afford to work here.

If UT Austin wants to attract and retain top tier faculty, staff, and students, it must support ALL of its employees – from administrative staff and adjuncts to graduate workers and custodians – that labor every day to provide quality higher education to our community.

For these reasons, I am publicly calling on President Jay Hartzell to provide a $10,000 pay raise for all UT Austin campus workers.