Please protest part-time wages

Julie Muhlstein (Aug. 21 “Teachers union protests too loudly”) questions the WEA’s campaign to discourage parents from shopping at Wal-Mart, suggesting that such an admonition “crosses a line.”

She cites a WEA representative who defends the union on the grounds that “Wal-Mart’s record of providing livable-wage jobs is so dismal.”

As a part-time community college instructor and WEA member, I wish that the WEA would also protest a different case of dismal wages: That of part-time community college faculty.

Part-timers instructors are paid 58 percent of what an equivalent full-time instructors receive for the same work, even though the tuition charged is the same and the grades and credits are the same as those granted by full-timers.

Not only are part-time instructors paid at a discounted rate, their workload is capped, usually around 70 percent of a full-time load, which makes for a certifiably dismal income. As a part-time instructor at Olympic College in Bremerton, for teaching seven classes in 2004 (10 courses being a full-time load), my annual income per my W2 was $13,448. If this were my lone source of income, my family would qualify for food stamps, Section 8 housing and other public assistance.

Earnest working people deserve a decent, living wage and reasonable benefits, whether employed by Wal-Mart or the state. Workers should be paid equal pay for equal work. If we allow violations of these principles, we are indeed “crossing a line.”

Jack Longmate

Poulsbo