Story by Ethan Schmidt
At 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 27, a delegation of employees from MTSU’s chapter of United Campus Workers met with President Sidney McPhee to discuss their petition for biweekly pay.
The meeting coalesced after the union obtained over 500 signatures on a petition asking the university’s administration to pay their workers on a biweekly basis instead of monthly.
An uneasy tension came over the meeting, as state laws place heavy restrictions on how state employers can communicate with their employees’ unions.
Spencer O’Neal, vice president of the UCW chapter, was keenly aware of these restrictions.
“This is not an attempt at collective bargaining,” O’Neal said at the start of the meeting.
In any case, the campus employees did not have to dispute McPhee at all. They faced no opposition against their demand for biweekly pay — the standard pay period length among education workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“We do not take the concerns of our employees and our students lightly,” McPhee said.
The president hopes MTSU administration can implement biweekly pay within the next year.
“This is not a promise,” McPhee stressed. “I prefer to under promise and overdeliver. That’s been my philosophy of dealing with the situation.”
President McPhee said what prevents an immediate switch to the biweekly pay period are the large number of employees at MTSU, limited state funding, the inadequate Banner paycheck processing system and delayed approvals from the bank.
However, the president was able to pledge that MTSU’s administration would publicly engage the campus community about the process of switching to biweekly pay. The president will meet with his cabinet to discuss drafting a letter that they will deliver to O’Neal, who will then distribute it widely. McPhee intends to send the letter within the next two weeks.
O’Neal was pleased with the president’s response at the meeting.
“I am content that MTSU is acting within the bounds of what is possible right now.”
Ethan Schmidt is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
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