New Mexico State University Workers Fight for Pay Raise

November 29, 2006

November 29, 2006

SEEKING JUSTICE – New Mexico State University workers rally after delivering a petition to NMSU’s president demanding wages comparable to workers at similar universities.

Photo Credit: Lynn Rodenhuis

More than 100 employees of New Mexico State University marched this past month at the Las Cruces campus to demand raises that would put them on par with workers at comparable universities.

The non-exempt workers – custodial staff, librarians, housekeepers, groundskeepers and office support, among others – carried a 12-foot-wide banner supporting their call for a "first class pay raise" to the office of NMSU Pres. Michael Martin. Once there, they presented petitions signed by hundreds of staff, faculty and students backing their cause.

They also delivered a letter that called on the administration "to work with our union now – at the bargaining table – so that we may go together to Santa Fe to fight for real pay raises for staff and a brighter future for our students."

After falling behind other state and university workers in wages and benefits, 1,300 NMSU employees decided to form their own union with AFSCME in May, becoming members of Local 2393 (Council 18). Soon they began negotiating their first contract, only to run up against an inflexible administration whose counter-proposal over the weekend failed to address either wages or health insurance premium costs.

"It looks like we’re going to have to fight for everything in this contract," Local 2393 member Melinda Caskey told the local news media during the Nov. 14 march. "We’re all one unit and we’re all in this together." Caskey is an NMSU administrative employee.

Four more negotiating sessions are scheduled this month.

To read more about the NMSU employees’ struggle for justice, click here.