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Tell President Bruininks:

Don't Balance the Budget on the

Backs of
Staff and Students

Rally: Thursday
Jan 21

Noon

In Front of Morrill Hall

President Bruininks
and senior administrators want to balance the budget on the backs of staff and
students.  Some of their plans include:

—   Furloughs

President Bruininks told senior administrators that he
intends to make staff take 10 furlough days (unpaid days off) over the
next year.

This is a pay cut for hourly staff at the university and we
can’t afford it. Pay and holidays are negotiated with the unions on campus, and
cannot be unilaterally dictated.

—   Layoffs

Layoffs are already taking place at the U. Hundreds of
frontline staff have been laid off since the hiring pause began, while over 250
administrators continue to make more than $200,000 per year.

Layoffs mean that there are fewer staff to do the important
work of helping students navigate the university system from admissions to
graduation. The work is still there, and has increased as admissions have gone
up. The remaining staff are forced to work harder and are working through
breaks and lunches. This is not legal, nor sustainable and ultimately students
will suffer as services and support decrease.

—   Attacks
on benefits

University administrators are discussing ways to cut our
hard-earned benefits. Their ideas include cutting pensions and cutting the
tuition benefit for graduate teaching and research assistants.

—   Making
education unaffordable

Between 2000-2007, undergraduate tuition went up over 68%.
The administration wants to pit students against staff by telling us it’s
either tuition increases or layoffs. This is a false choice.

As the university
faces increasing budget cuts they are putting the burden on the backs of the
lowest paid staff and students rather than those that can afford it – the
administrators, of whom over 250 earn more than $200,000 each year.

Join us as we rally the first week of the new semester to
tell the administration that we’ve had enough, and it’s time for the University’s
priorities to change – CHOP FROM THE TOP! 
No furloughs, no more layoffs of frontline staff, and no tuition hikes!