State workers unhappy with small raise

With state employees set to receive a 2 percent salary hike this year, many are worried the raise won’t be enough for North Carolina’s public sector to remain competitive against an improving economy.

Under the budget approved by the N.C. General Assembly on Aug. 11, state employees making more than $42,500 are entitled to the increase, and those making less will receive a salary bump of $850. All employees are entitled to 10 days of bonus leave.

“It wasn’t what we wanted,” said Sherry Melton, director of communications for the State Employees Association of North Carolina. “At the outset, we were asking for 5 percent.”

Melton said 5 percent was a reasonable request given that past increases haven’t kept pace with the cost of living. In 2004, state employees were given a raise of 2.5 percent, or $1,000, whichever was greater, and in 2003 they received a one-time bonus of $500.

“The last three or four years, there has been a real budget crisis,” Melton said. “This year, (lawmakers) have absolutely no excuse whatsoever.”

The issue of employee compensation has long been of particular concern to the state’s universities, which face fierce competition to recruit and retain faculty.

Robert Shelton, provost at UNC-Chapel Hill, said UNC-CH will face an especially tough year in competing for faculty.

In previous fiscal years, UNC-CH has relied on funds from campus-based tuition increases to augment modest or non-existent pay increases from the state.

But a freeze on tuition hikes for in-state students, instituted by the UNC-system Board of Governors for the 2005-06 academic year, has left UNC-CH with a substantially smaller pool of funds to entice and retain faculty.

“Last year we had similar support from the state, but we also had strong campus-based tuition funds,” Shelton said.

“We probably have a fifth of campus-based funds for faculty salaries that we did last year, so it’ll be harder this year.”

Laurie Charest, associate vice chancellor for human resources at UNC-CH, said a history of low salary increases makes a modest hike more difficult to bear this year.

“What’s devastating to us is the series of low or no increases,” she said. “I think we have survived the last couple of years because the economy hasn’t been robust.”

As the state’s economic fortunes rise, she said, so will UNC-CH’s staff turnover rate.

Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, said legislators are aware of employees’ concerns.

“One of the complaints we’ve been hearing in Raleigh is that universities have been losing good employees,” he said.

Shelton said he hopes the assembly might be more receptive to the complaints of state employees next year, when lawmakers will be up for re-election.

“I’m sure that the folks in Raleigh are sensitive to the voting public, and a lot of the voting public work for the state,” he said. “So, we’ll see.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.