UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES SEEK SALARY INCREASE IN 12 PERCENT RANGE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Two employee groups at Southeast Missouri State University have requested pay raises in the 12 percent range for the 1991-92 fiscal year.

They also want the university to absorb the anticipated 25 percent increase in the cost of the family medical/tax sheltered annuity benefit.

The compensation requests were submitted to the University Budget Committee late last week by the Clerical/Technical/Service (CTS) Employee Council and the Professional Staff Council.

The faculty group submitted its request earlier this year, which also calls for the university to pick up any increased premium costs associated with the family medical/tax sheltered annuity (FM/TSA) benefit.

In addition, faculty members are seeking a 4 percent across-the-board pay hike.

In all, the three employee groups' compensation proposals would cost the university more than $1.9 million in added expenses for personnel, budget figures show.

University officials said Southeast's personnel costs totaled about $36.3 million or roughly 60 percent of its $61.1 million budget in the 1990 fiscal year. The university has more than 900 full-time employees.

"Obviously, we can't fund everything that has been proposed," said Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast and a member of the Budget Committee.

He said the compensation proposals are "a starting point for negotiations."

The clerical/technical group is proposing an 11.8 percent hike in salaries for CTS staff, while the professional employees want a 12.3 percent raise. The percentages do not include the FM/TSA proposal.

The CTS Council said that an 11.8 percent pay raise for CTS employees would cost the university an additional $332,140.

The pay raise for professional staff would cost an estimated $321,030, the Professional Staff Council said.

When the family medical/tax sheltered annuity proposal is included, the total compensation package for CTS employees would mean added personnel costs of $492,240 for the university, Budget Committee figures show.

As to the professional staff, the total added cost would amount to $380,554.

The expected hike in FM/TSA premium costs is a major concern to university employees.

Betty Sargent, chairperson of the CTS Employee Council, said ever-increasing costs associated with the family medical/tax sheltered annuity benefit have cut into pay raises for university employees and, in particular, CTS employees.

"Yes, we have gotten raises," she said. "It's just not in take-home pay."

Last year, the increased FM/TSA cost for university employees amounted to about $670 per person, said Sargent, which amounted to more than the pay raise originally given CTS employees. "The university came up with an additional $70 (per person) so we did not lose any take-home pay."

It's estimated that the premium for the family medical/tax sheltered annuity benefit would increase by $680 per university employee in the coming fiscal year, Budget Committee members said. Currently, that cost is $2,721 per person.

Sargent said it would cost $107,100 for the university to pick up the increased premium cost for Southeast's 189 CTS employees. That cost, however, is based on 10 months.

Wallhausen said that, except for faculty, new salaries take effect Sept. 1 each year, even though the fiscal year begins July 1.

As a result, non-faculty employees are paid at their old salary level for the first two months of each new fiscal year, Wallhausen said.

Faculty salaries are paid on a fiscal-year basis.

Sargent termed this year's 11.8 percent request as "realistic."

In its written recommendations, the CTS Council said: "We realize that 11.8 percent seems like a large percentage request for a lean budget year; however, when you consider the fact that CTS employee salaries are barely above minimum wage, it's not much of an increase at all."

Sargent said the majority of CTS employees receive gross salaries in the $12,000 to $13,000 range.

An 11.8 percent wage hike would mean a 49-cent increase in the hourly wage of a person making $12,000 and a 53-cent hike in the hourly wage for an individual making $13,000, the CTS Council said.

The Professional Staff Council estimated it would cost the university $59,524 to pay the added premium cost of the family medical/tax sheltered annuity benefit for the more than 100 professional-staff employees at Southeast.

That cost is based on a 10-month period.

Also, the professional staff wants a 5.3 percent cost-of-living-adjustment, which would cost the university an added $138,330, including increased retirement and Social Security expenses.

On top of that, the professional staff has asked for a 3 percent increase in its base salaries in line with the median salary of that employee group as based on a complicated formula that takes into account salaries of comparable jobs, where applicable, at the local, state and even national level.

According to the Professional Staff Council, the average salary for Southeast's professional employees is just over $26,000. That figure includes family medical/tax sheltered annuity benefits.

The professional staff also is requesting a 4 percent pay raise, arguing that such a raise is needed for professional-staff employees to recover the cost of inflation since the 1988 fiscal year.

"I think we are trying to cover lost ground," said Annette Adams of the Professional Staff Council.

Budget Committee members said the salary proposals will be discussed at the committee's next meeting, scheduled for May 2.