Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris vetoed a $1 million grant to the University of Memphis in July over the universities failure to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Harris' decision nullifies a grant to the U of M that would have been used to renovate the school's swim facility. He said he feels it is wrong to allocate the money to the university until the employees can earn "livable wages."
Harris spoke on his priorities regarding the decision.
"This is about 330 workers who are not able to take care of their family even though they work every single day for the University of Memphis," Harris stated.
Harris said that he would like to see a plan in action where the workers may get a living wage to support their families.
Van Turner, chairman of the Shelby County Commission, said that U of M President David Rudd told them that there is a plan, but it has yet to be implemented.
"This is not really anything that the university can do right now, but he has suggested and indicated that there is a plan to get the worker up to $15 over time," Turner said.
Rudd said earlier this year that he fully supported the notion of raising the minimum wage on campus to $15 an hour. Last year, the Faculty Senate and Staff Senate at U of M passed resolutions in favor of increasing the minimum wage.
Tony Blakely is a former U of M rec center employee who said he welcomes the idea of increased wages.
"I am hoping that the veto is overridden," Blakely said. "For the workers that have families that need the extra money, they deserve to get it."
Harris discussed how the board would handle this issue moving forward.
"Look, I'm trying to do justice in this moment with this issue right in front of me," Harris said. "It takes eight votes to override the mayor's veto. The board has planned to meet before the end of the month. If there aren't enough votes to override the veto, they may bring the grant back up in another resolution."
Jerald Walker, a student employee at the U of M music building, said he hopes to see the momentum behind the proposal continue to grow.
"Hopefully, if this grant is given to the university, it will extend to all workers throughout campus," Jerald Walker said.
U of M employees gathered with union members as well as students and alumni for a protest on campus back in June. Custodians on campus wrote an open letter in early July stating that the current rate of the wage increase would mean a $15 minimum wage would not be possible for nine more years.
President Rudd tweeted July 8 that the "definitive plan" for the wage increase will happen within two years. A few days before that, the university's chief financial officer, Raaj Kurapati, said that the plan would take roughly four to five years.
The current rate is $11.11 per hour. However, Rudd said with benefits included, the current minimum wages of university employees would equal approximately $16.80 an hour.
