Letter from state Secretary of Education concerning University's autonomy over direct employee wages stokes continued controversy about "living wage" A letter from Virginia's Secretary of Education Thomas R. Morris to Graduate Arts & Sciences student Roberto Armengol has continued to fuel debate about the Living Wage Campaign's contention that the University can legally implement the demanded wage.
In the letter, Morris thanks Armengol on behalf of Gov. Tim Kaine for his correspondence regarding the "living wage" protest at the University and writes that the Commonwealth's "colleges and universities are autonomous in their ability to make decisions regarding wages for those employed at their institutions."
President Casteen stated that the letter was "old news" and that it discussed state employees rather than contracted employees.
"[The letter] comports with the Attorney General's advice on the rector and visitors' corporate authorities with regard to compensation of our own employees," Casteen said. "We have already addressed these issues at great lengths and in terms directly consistent with the secretary."
Living Wage Campaign member Benjamin Van Dyne stated that while the letter supports the campaign, it does not reveal any new legal information.
"There has never been any doubt that you can raise or lower wages as you see fit, it's autonomous in that sense," Van Dyne said. "[Casteen] sees a legal ambiguity there that doesn't exist, concerning contracted workers. In terms of substance, [the letter] doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know."
-- Compiled by Maura O'Keefe
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