UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan is Not Meant for You

By Lapakitea Mesui

Dear Beloved Student,

Janet Napolitano, President of the UC system, announced her so-called Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan July 22nd, enacting a $15 minimum wage for hired employees working at least 20 hours a week. The increase would be steadily raised over the next three years with its first increase of $13 an hour made on the 1st of Oct, 2015, eventually reaching $15 an hour by Oct 1st, 2017.

The initial reaction is to be proud, as we are the first public university in the United States to consciously endow such an act of goodwill — or so the university claims. However, one has to wonder why such good deeds have been espoused and what effects we, as students, should expect? This extension of goodwill is not meant for the students of the UC system — wait, what?

University guidelines cap employment hours of student workers at 19.5 hours per week, and the new minimum wage is for those who work at least 20 hours per week. So unfortunately, this new $15 minimum wage made by the university does not apply to students.

This begs the question of Napolitano’s, as well as the UC Board of Regents, intentions. It is counterintuitive to exclude the tens of thousands of students employed by the UC system in this piece of legislation. The only logical conclusion is that our well-being was nowhere near the forefront in creating the Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan. There has to be an ulterior motive — politics.

For the full article, click on the link below.
[Source]: New University