It’s embarrassing when one of the most prestigious public university systems in the country fails to follow a minimum wage policy. It’s even more embarrassing when it can’t even follow its own policy.
The UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, announced in 2015, guaranteed that by October 2017, all University of California (UC) employees and contractors hired to work at least 20 hours weekly would be paid at least $15 per hour.
When the policy was announced by UC President Janet Napolitano, she noted her supposed concern for the workers and their families, and boasted—in true California style—that UC would stand out as a leader by becoming the “first public university system in the United States to voluntarily establish a minimum wage of $15.”
“This is the right thing to do—for our workers and their families, for our mission and values,” she claimed at the time.
It turns out this was all a bunch of progressive hot air. Several internal audits conducted by UC internal audit revealed that the UC system is out of compliance with the plan, with some workers making far less than $15 per hour. Moreover, UC spokespeople admitted that the plan includes some major loopholes that hurt many low-wage workers.
So much for doing the “right thing.”
Kathryn Lybarger, President of the AFSCME Local 3299 employee union, believes this is part of a “systemic problem” with the UC system.
“UC’s minimum wage policy was clearly a public relations ploy aimed at enabling more outsourcing and denying contract workers the standards of fairness and equality that UC routinely professes to teach in the classroom,” she said.
This wouldn’t be the first time in recent history that the UC system was dishonest in its dealings. It has been plagued with scandals over the past year, including the existence of a secret $175 million slush fund at a time that it was seeking to raise tuition; an expensive new payroll system that’s astronomically over budget; hefty payouts to top executives; and reports that UC President Janet Napolitano interfered with a state audit.
Lybarger argues that scandals like this are “eroding trust in our public institutions” while top executives line their own pockets.
If the UC system, with its $29 billion budget, can’t afford to live up to its own rules, how can the private sector be held to such a high standard?
Brendan Pringle (@BrendanPringle) is a freelance journalist in California. He is a National Journalism Center graduate and formerly served as a development officer for Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch.
