CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Some student employees on campus are calling for higher wages. The average wage for work-study students is $12.90 according to UNC Media Relations.
TJ Edwards, a Senior Public Policy Major, created the Student Employee Conditions committee to establish a minimum wage of $15 for student employees. He works in the Student Union and says he has to pick up side gigs in order to support himself. He says the raise would help him and many other student workers.
“[I’m] Door Dashing or working catering events and things like that. So, it would mean that I wouldn’t have to go out and have this now third job that I’m doing, and it would mean just a lot more financial security,” Edwards says.
He says students employed by the Student Union are essential to the day-to-day operations, and while a $2 raise is coming for them, he wants all student employees to get paid more.
“We’re going to Student Stores, Campus Rec, Campus Housing, and we’re having different people who work in these organizations to come in and talk about their work experience,” Edwards says.
However, a minimum wage for student workers would come from an increase in student fees for all students. Edwards says this increase is necessary.
“I know that can be scary because l that’s coming out of our pockets 100 percent, but we also have to recognize that when it comes to policy and improving the conditions of the place that we live in, it’s essentially like paying taxes. We need to pay taxes in order to have the infrastructure that we want,” Edwards says.
Edwards and the committee will be collecting the experiences from student workers and creating a report to present in front of administration. Edwards says that it could be a while before getting the proposal to the Board of Trustees, but the group is working on how to best convince those deciding to approve the minimum wage.