USM Chancellor Jay A. Perman on Board Approval of a $15 Minimum Wage for All Regular Status Employees
Baltimore, Md. (Dec. 10, 2021) – I want to thank the Board for approving this $15 minimum wage measure, and for making sure that the pay adjustment will take effect quickly—next month.
Quite simply, it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do for our employees and their families. It’s the right thing to do for our Maryland communities, where our employees spend their money and support local businesses and jobs.
And, without question, it’s the right thing to do for the University System. We rely every day on hard-working, highly skilled employees. And if we don’t pay them a competitive wage, we risk losing them to other organizations.
I want to emphasize what’s been stressed throughout this conversation—that this is merely the first step of a multistep process. We know this move will affect other employees, as well—employees who are currently making more than $15 an hour. An adjustment like this has a ripple effect, and we’ll be studying the full scope and scale of pay adjustments that will need to be made as a result. And we look forward to negotiating the effects of this change with the exclusive employee bargaining units.
I thank everyone who worked for this change, who supported it, and who will be celebrating this announcement today.
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Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu
