Librarians Are Under Paid--LtE Davis Enterprise

This letter to the editor was originally published in the Davis Enterprise on September 3, 2011.

Thank you for highlighting the article about University of California salaries. Decisions being made about salaries are very confusing. On the one hand, high-level employees seem to easily obtain raises but librarians have been told that if we pursue bargaining for increased salaries, the merit increases due one-third of librarians will be withheld. These merit increases reflect the hard work that librarians do to support faculty and students. UC librarian pay lags behind California State University and Community College District compensation by about 20 percent. We have taken on considerably greater workloads as our colleagues retire, or move to higher-paying jobs. Bottom line — UC continues to demonstrate that there is plenty of money for things it wants to prioritize.

Patsy Inouye Davis