MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The University of Memphis will increase the minimum wage for all regular hourly employees, according to a state employees’ union.
According to the Tennessee State Employees Association, U of M President David Rudd emailed a letter to employees at the start of the spring semester announcing the minimum wage would increase to $13 per hour by July 1, 2020.
This will be implemented in two separate phases, Rudd said. The first increase to $12 per hour will occur on April 1, with everyone going to $13 per hour on July 1.
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, who has pushed for a $15 minimum wage on campus along with Mayor Lee Harris, said on Twitter that the announcement was “a first step towards $15 which we hope to see not to far from this increase.”
The United Campus Workers union said Monday they are not giving up their fight for $15 per hour.
In January 2019, Rudd said he supported raising the campus minimum wage to $15 per hour in a “financially responsible, sustainable way.” The Faculty Senate and Staff Senate passed resolutions in 2018 in support of increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Other local institutions including the City of Memphis, Shelby County and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have committed to raising their minimum wages to similar levels in the past year.