How can Vanderbilt afford to pay all its employees a living wage? Will tuition go up?
We believe firmly that Vanderbilt can afford the living wage standard. During wage negotiations in the Spring of 2005, our union calculated the cost of a $2 base-pay raise at roughly $2 million dollars. This represents a mere 0.12% of Vanderbilt’s annual operating budget! While one could point to countless fiscal excesses in Vanderbilt’s budget — from those expensive chocolate-covered strawberries to our Chancellor’s nationally ranked salary — even these luxuries could coexist with a living wage. Implementing the living wage is simply a matter of reassessing our priorities.
