CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The University of Virginia says more than 800 full-time contract employees will see their wages grow to at least $15 an hour next year.
The news Thursday comes after Virginia’s flagship university announced earlier this year that it would begin paying about 1,400 of its own full-time employees at least $15 an hour. Altogether, UVA says the changes that take effect Jan. 1 cover roughly 96% of all full-time employees.
The university says it will continue working with contractors on wage adjustments, including those that haven’t yet taken any action.
The Daily Progress reports living wage activists applauded the decision.
Longtime Advocate Emily Filler, now a professor at an Indiana college, says the change was “major,” and that students and faculty had been advocating for a living wage for decades.
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