As the debate intensifies on campus about raising low wage employees’ salaries, the University faces difficulties with budget constraints. But across the nation, some peer institutions are struggling to increase salaries and maintain positions.

In a campus rally earlier this month and a town hall meeting last week about building an Athens workers’ center, many in the University community have expressed concern about developing a living wage, in which low wage University employees’ salaries would be increased to achieve a better standard of living.

But when compared to three peer institutions, University’s lowest wage workers come out with slightly higher salaries. The University defines its peer institutions as universities that are similar to the University and can serve as benchmarks for comparison.

As of this January, the University’s lowest paid salary workers receive $10.06 an hour, while the minimum wage at the Universities of Arizona, Florida and Maryland are $8.50, $9.02 and $10.00, respectively.

“And we’re committed to going higher,” said Tom Jackson, vice president of Public Affairs, in a phone interview Tuesday.

Jackson said that for the moment, the focus is on making sure jobs are not lost to budget cuts.

“Our main emphasis is on preserving jobs, which means increasing wages might not be a top priority this year as we try to save jobs.”

Budget issues are also preventing the University from creating or filling jobs.

“The University is not doing a lot of hiring right now,” Jackson said. “We have several hundred positions in both faculty and staff that are just vacant. We can’t afford to fill them.”

The University’s peer institutions are also coping with the economic crisis and are trying to balance their tight budgets with efforts to increase wages.

The University of Florida has taken steps to address this, an official said.

“Around 2001 or 2002, we recognized that we had some people still making the minimum federal wage and that was not what we considered a living wage,” said Ed Poppell, vice president of business affairs, in a phone interview Thursday. He said the university began increasing the minimum wage every six months and though the current minimum wage is $9.02, Poppell said UF would like to see it between $9.50 to $10.

Jackson said at the University, increasing salaries only affect a small percentage of employees.

“The University has committed to increasing the minimum wage over time and has done so steadily since 2003,” Jackson said.

“The last time we’ve raised the minimum it affected 586 people out of the University’s almost 10,000 employees,” he said.

At UF, “our employees aren’t getting raises of any types,” Poppell said.

Poppell brought up another issue concerning raising minimum salaries.

“Anytime you deal with a livable wage and you start to artificially increase [wages] you start to deal with compression,” he said.

He defined compression as what happens when the minimum salary is raised, and people who have just been hired start out making the same amount as those who have been working the same job for a longer period of time.

“It’s not just a matter of giving everyone who has a low wage a raise, it affects the whole organization,” Poppell said.

The University of Maryland at College Park is experiencing budget issues as well.

“We have a hiring freeze, furthermore we’re on a furlough, where you have to take days off without pay,” said Karen McDonald, UMD’s assistant director of employment and compensation. Asked if UMD employees petitioned for higher raises, as some University workers did earlier this month at a living wage rally in Tate Plaza, McDonald said, “No, we haven’t had that. I think that right now, given the state of the economy, everybody is low-key and glad they have a job.”

The University of Arizona is also taking steps to reduce cost. Linda Charlip, director of compensation and benefits wrote in an e-mail that the university has not lowered its minimum hiring rate. But, she wrote, “The state of Arizona is facing severe budget challenges. The University of Arizona has been operating under a hiring freeze of state funded positions since October 10, 2008. Furloughs will be implemented next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2009.”

Despite the setbacks in salary increases, Jackson signaled the difficulties that lie ahead for the University and its peer institutions.

“This is going to be a tough year when it comes to increases. The focus will be on preservation of positions,” he said.