The faculty of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension represented by our Faculty Committee for Peer Responsibility strongly supports the Associated Clerical, Office, Laboratory and Technical Staff of the University of Maine (ACSUM) contract bargaining position. The most recent contract offer of the University of Maine System’s administration of a one-half percent pay increase, coupled with a 14 percent increase in health care deductions, would have the net effect of reducing the standard of living of the lowest-paid group of employees in the university system.

Twenty percent of ACSUM unit members qualify for income-based government aid and 20 percent of clerical workers have part-time jobs to make ends meet. This unit is 85 percent female. These employees perform critical functions without which the university could not survive.

At the minimum, they deserve an offer that preserves their current level of income upon which their families depend. For more information, see the ACSUM paper “Living on the Edge with Nothing Left to Give” online at http://www.acsum.org/personal-economies.pdf.

Louise Kirkland

Co-chairperson

Faculty Committee for Peer Responsibility

Bangor