Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 09:19:03

To: comm-org@uac.rdp.utoledo.edu

From: Ben & Susan Thacker-Gwaltney <bensusan@mindspring.com>

Subject: Living Wage Campaign Alert

THIS ALERT COMES FROM THE LABOR ACTION GROUP'S LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN

Does it bother you that one of our state universities -- the University of Virginia -- doesn't care enough about its low-wage employees to pay them enough to live on?

The starting annual wage for a full-time UVA housekeeper is $11,932 a year; for a starting full-time office worker, it is $15,588 a year. The poverty line for a family of four living in the Charlottesville area is $16,450. What good is a full-time job if you can't live on it?

The Labor Action Group is trying to correct this injustice. They encourage your active participation in the CAMPAIGN FOR A LIVING WAGE for all University of Virginia employees by contacting UVA's Chief Financial Officer, Leonard Sandridge, and members of UVA's Board of Visitors, especially the new Rector, John P. Ackerly III. Tell them that all UVA employees deserve at least $8.00 an hour in pay and those employees who have been underpaid for many, many years also deserve a raise.

It is important for Sandridge and Ackerly to hear from people from all over the country, so please pass the word.

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Here are some facts:

82 percent of the office workers at UVa are female.

53 percent of the housekeepers are African-American.

The University of Virginia plans for spend $44 million to renovate Scott Stadium (the football field).

The University of Virginia is spending $38 million to bail out the struggling HMO, Qualchoice.

If you or your group would like to help with the Living Wage Campaign, call 804/977-1497 or email to lagrp@virginia.edu

Susan & Ben Thacker-Gwaltney

308 Monte Vista Ave

Charlottesville, VA 22903

804/971-7942

bensusan@mindspring.com

"Don't let them eat you alive." --KJ