UI starts paying higher minimum wage

IOWA CITY - Johnson County's largest employer, the University of Iowa, has decided to increase the minimum wage it pays by 95 cents an hour, mostly benefiting hundreds of students who work there.

The university maintains it increased the wage from $7.25 an hour because of a need to take market forces into account - not because of any legal opinion whether the state institution is subject to a local ordinance requiring a higher threshold.

'Recognizing the increase in the market rate in Johnson County, the University of Iowa implemented a minimum wage hike on November 1 in order to remain competitive as we recruit and retain student employees,” the university said in a statement. 'Adopting a rate of $8.20 an hour impacted approximately 36 temporary employees and 665 student employees.”

The increase matches the first phase of a requirement adopted unanimously by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to raise the local minimum wage in increments to $10.10 an hour by 2017. The local rule is the only one like it in the state and may eventually face a legal challenge.

Earlier this year, UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck said that university staff are employees of the state and likely to follow its pay rules, but that the university would see what the Iowa Attorney General's Office had to say.

Beck said Friday the UI has not yet heard from the Attorney General's Office on the matter, and added that it remains to be seen if the UI follows suit with any future increases called for in the county ordinance.

'The University of Iowa has not made any decisions moving forward,” she said.

While the UI decision is not technically an adoption of the county wage, Supervisor Mike Carberry said he still chalks it up as a win.

'The goal is to raise people out of poverty; nobody can survive on $7.25. However they get it, I'm happy with that,” he said.

Salaries of the vast majority of the UI's 23,000 employees are not affected by the higher minimum.

But with student debt and rising tuition costs a common talking point at universities nationwide, the UI's move will somewhat benefit students, especially since more than 90 percent of the 700 positions impacted are held by students.

UI Student Government President Liz Mills said she worked a minimum wage job in a residence hall last semester and believes the news will be welcome across the undergraduate and graduate student bodies.

'I think it's really important that students feel like they can go to college and get a quality education, and this will help them achieve that in an affordable manner,” she said.

Now with two weeks passed since the county ordinance took effect, Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said Friday that so far, the local rule has not been challenged in court.

Cities in the county had the option of following the new rule or passing a counter ordinance that either sets a different wage or sticks with the state and federal $7.25 minimum.

The city councils of Shueyville, Solon and Swisher have voted to stick with the lower state rate.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com

Vanessa Miller of The Gazette contributed to this report.