Rally for minimum wage hike held at UTC

Protesters demand university pay all employees at least $15 an hour

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) — Local members of the United Campus Workers held a rally today at UTC, demanding the school raise minimum wages to $15 an hour.

The organization’s campaign has already received hundreds of signatures in support of the pay raise.

The UCW says UTC has promised that a plan exists to meet the pay raise demands, but they don’t know when that will happen.

“This rally’s all about talking about how increased wages help workers,” said UTC Asst. Prof. Ben Stein. “At the same time, we’re also pushing, of course, for the university to spread out that compression in wages — not just lift people up. People who’ve been here for years and years need to also be compensated adequately.”

One woman who spoke today said she’s worked at the university for 16 years and in that time, her salary has only increased by just over five dollars an hour.