by Harry P. Norton
Daily Lobo Guest Columnist
In the early part of April 2003, UNM Department of Human Resources posted on its Web site the "2003 Staff Salary Structure" table and "Job Title Upgrades."
This is the result of a market study conducted by HR to place UNM staff salaries in a "more competitive market position," starting July 1, 2003." The announcement brought me a sense of däja vu all over again.
Back in December 1996 when UNM was about to launch the infamous UNMpact reclassification process, in a letter responding to my own, Human Resources Director Susan Carkeek maintained that the process would establish "competitive salary ranges" for all staff positions. As a 10-year veteran of UNM, I expressed my skepticism that this was going to happen, pointing out that while human resources could revise all the grades it wanted, it lacked a plan to actually pay the staff the salaries within the new ranges.
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Under UNM's own salary schedule effective July 1, 1996, my salary as an Admissions Officer with 10 years of experience was $4,000-$6,000 below the average salary of similar positions at Albuquerque T-VI and New Mexico State. This is precisely the point I made to Carkeek. In response to my concerns, the human resources director wrote, "The reality of funding in the public sector will undoubtedly be making difficult choices with limited resources (sic). If we are faced with having to set priorities for salary increases, it seems only fair that those who have salaries furthest away from market receive first consideration."
Fast forward to 2003: under the current salary schedule, now after sixteen years at UNM working in the same position, I have "advanced" to between the first and second quartile - leaving me still $6,000 below where I ought to be, at the third quartile. Under Human Resources' new schedule effective July 1, I am to be "upgraded" to grade 11. At this grade, I will be once again consigned to just above the minimum in the new salary range - this time $14,000 below where I ought be in the new grade. We are told by HR that the Board of Regents has approved additional funds to cover those whose salaries have fallen below the new range minimums, but there are no provisions or set asides for the 5 to10-year employees who have been anticipating remuneration from the Staff Data Collection Form process initiated November 2000.
Whatever the rationale for this latest staff salary farce, one thing emerges: while I and many long-term staff are kept hovering between the minimum and the first quartile, top level administrators working in the same "public sector" experience no obstacles reaching the third quartile, or above, of their salary range, regardless of their longevity at UNM. Why is that?
UNM's solution to this salary disparity is to offer the mid to lower ranks cost of living adjustments which are swallowed up by ever-increasing health insurance rates, and to dangle before the staff the carrot of "merit" pay. This "merit" pay usually amounts to no more than several hundred dollars, it is not applied consistently or fairly, and it does not accrue to the salary base.
In her l996 letter, Carkeek stated that she had disagreed with several of my statements and she wrote that, "Most notably, I believe it is premature to assume that UNMpact offers no sign of remedying the problems you identify ...While we recognize that we will not be able to adjust all employee salary concerns the first year, the University has made a commitment to redress the most significant ones immediately. We will then begin to address the remaining issues over time."
Well, more than six years have passed since UNMpact and my concerns and those of others have yet to be addressed. This latest human resources effort to rearrange the deck chairs on UNM's salary Titanic does not bode well either for us. The munificent 3 percent increase voted by the Board of Regents will do nothing to rectify the stagnant salaries of long-term, mid to lower range staff. In the absence of a progressive salary approach, it will be fascinating to hear what sort of excuses Human Resources will come up with this time to not actually pay in the range.
Harry P. Norton is the president of United Staff-UNM.
