Younger Oliver, a U. Alaska-Anchorage sophomore majoring in English, works at the information desk in the UAA student union. She was thrilled to hear that the July 30 paychecks for all 500 student workers in the UA system will include a 50 cent per hour raise, their first in seven years.

For a student working 20 hours a week, that’s an extra $20 in every check.

In April, Oliver wrote an English paper highlighting reasons why the student wage should be increased by at least a dollar per hour. Pointing out that according to the Anchorage Police Dept the cost of living in Anchorage is 26 percent above the national average and the cost of housing is 38 percent above the national average.

Yet, Oliver did not know that USUAA Senator and Speaker of the Coalition of Student Leaders Peter Finn and other student leaders had been lobbying for months for a student wage increase. The financial pressures the students face, often working two jobs just make ends meet, are clear considering only 38 percent of UAA students attend full time.

Finn recalls when the UA business council, which advises the Board of Regents on financial matters, recommended a 25 cent increase of student wages across the board – just enough to keep the University in compliance with the state minimum wage by bringing the bottom tier of student wages to 7.75 per hour.

“Usually the Board of Regents just goes with whatever the business council recommends, but we decided not to give up,” Finn said. “I saw President Hamilton’s bald head outside the library and I called the statewide office to find out where he was going.”

Finn was already flying to Fairbanks for the November Board of Regents meeting, but he changed his flight to get more face time with Hamilton.

Three times in the two days leading up to the critical Board of Regents vote, students spoke with Hamilton about student wages one on one.

Hamilton contacted the chancellors who agreed to support a 50 cent student wage increase. The board of regents voted it in the next day adding 452,000 dollars to the UA budget along with 11 million in raises for faculty and staff.

“It’s not very often that you actually get enough respect from administrators that they actually see your way, especially to the point where they spend more money on students,” Finn said.

This represents a five percent pay raise for student workers, a three percent pay raise for all other UA staff, a three percent pay raise for administrators, a 3.5 percent pay raise for tenured faculty and a four percent pay raise for adjunct faculty.
Currently Chancellor Ulmer makes approximately 255,000 dollars annually.

“It was implied that the Board of Regents would give us an additional 50 cent increase in student wages this year,” Finn said. “We’ll know by November if we are going to get it. The second raise would become effective in July 2011. The next thing is to set so the student wages increase 3% percent a year like staff and faculty wages do.”

Now the three tiers of student workers will make eight, nine and 10 dollars per hour respectively. Some student workers make more than this based on the requirements of their position. Graduate student workers will also receive the pay raise, bringing their wages to 17.50 per hour.

Any student worker who works in the same department for more than a year earns a 25-cent pay raise on the yearly anniversary of the day they were hired. If you are unsure if you are receiving this pay raise you can contact the department you work for and make sure they have filed the appropriate paperwork.

UAA Staff is the only group of workers on campus without union representation. For months the Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA) has been campaigning for UAA staff to form a union and join the 8,000-member American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees local 52.

ASEA Business Manager Jim Duncan confirmed that they have submitted 1,022 cards signed by over 30 percent of the 2,642 UAA staff members calling for a vote among the staff on whether to form a union.

If enough of the cards are verified, the vote will likely occur in September or October.

“Once we have become the official bargaining representative, it is clear without a doubt that pay will be a top priority,” Duncan said. “That’s the real purpose of unionizing, giving folks a voice and a place at the table.”

As the nation experiences the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression, millions of workers face stagnant wages and rising costs of living. Oliver says she will probably spend her pay raise on rent.