Dave Porritt wrote: >Jeff & Tom: > >This is an interesting intersection of two emails. <snip> Hi Dave and Tom, Yes, I am understanding that the cost of health care is getting too expensive to afford. (Rush Limbaugh doesn't believe health care costs are a problem, but...) But it is not free in the full-time staff world either. Our contribution, taken out of our gross salary, for family coverage on the "economy plan" increased by $450/year this year, and so now I'm paying $168.12/mo, or $2017/year for the family coverage with the highest deductibles and copays. I don't have the figures for the standard plan in front of me. I realize that's far less than you will pay. In fact, I'm discussing this very problem with a buddy of mine this morning who's in car sales, and his contribution to his employer's group health plan is more than his house payment. I think that here lies the biggest reason full-time CAUT salaries are so low. As techs age, or insurability gets more difficult for whatever reason, more techs will take low paying jobs as a trade off for health coverage. I know of one tech who dropped his private sector business grossing $80K over 15 years ago for a $24K university job for the health insurance. It's a bit like extortion, if you think about it. There's not that much difference in the cost of those benefits. But I really don't see how difficult it would be to earn $70K and up in the private world, particularly in areas where population is higher, once you get established. At $75/tuning equivalent, 20 equivalents per week (4/day, 5 days/week) for 46 weeks is $69K. Several techs in my area, RPTs and non-guild members alike, are doing at least that, and they're all over 40 years old. The crazy part is that you see classifieds in the Journal, where a tech is selling their business, which "generates $75K/year with 10 weeks vacation" in one column, and a CAUT position ad in the next column for $33K at a prestigious institution in an area of the country where the cost of living is probably much higher than here. I honestly don't see how you CAUTs living in areas with higher COLs are making it. My salary is right at the median of the last survey -- $39K (thanks to a one time $400 "bonus" we got last year, so my actual gross salary is $38,640). After they take out the tax withholdings, health insurance, and retirement, etc., I bring home $1094.62 (now thanks to Mr. Bush's $29/month tax cut which went into effect here yesterday) twice a month (I don't withhold all my dependents). My first check almost covers the mortgage payment. My second check makes the two car payments and insurance for those. My wife no longer has an outside job since the economy went to pot, and even if she did, daycare, commuting expense, and other costs of going to work would take up her whole check. What we eat and wear, pay for electricity, phone, TV, property taxes on automobiles, health insurance deductible/copays, etc., has to be earned from outside work. I'm a newcomer to the area, and since my predecessor did not do outside work, I'm having to build an outside clientele completely from scratch. And even with the "prestige" of being the university tech, that's been fairly slow, partly because I didn't start doing outside work until we lost a couple of other forms of income. Even so, finding time to actually schedule the outside work is not easy when you're obligated to 40 hours a week at the university, and you've got another full workday tied up just commuting every week. On top of all this, I'm looking at how to pay for college for the children one day. Our university does not offer tuition assistance or free tuition for family members of employees, and according to our assistant dean, the trend nationwide is to get away from offering it. My dad was able to provide a comfortable standard of living for us growing up. He had a high school education, and a regular blue collar job. He was home every afternoon before 5:00 with rare exception and never missed a ball game, or a band or chorus concert. I had a Dad. Now, I've got a college education and 19 years experience with a skill that not just everybody has, and I'm having to put in so many extra hours just to afford what I think is a reasonable standard similar to what I had growing up, that I don't get to spend very much time being a Dad. So, the salary part has been disappointing and frustrating, and I'm really surprised that I don't hear more about this subject from other CAUTs on this list. There's really no upward mobility for the most part. My salary range band tops out at $48K, which still wouldn't pay the bills. Now whether you can afford to give up your private clientele for the reduced health insurance is going to depend on each situation. You'll have to do some math. According to the university, my "total value of benefits", including salary, is $51,612.12, which can be surpassed with a private sector workload of 15 piano tuning equivalents per week for 46 weeks a year. Aside from all that, I love the work setting. I really don't enjoy doing the outside work as much, partly because it often doesn't seem as appreciated as it does in the college setting. Yes, we have budget problems in the school, but if you need to go regulate or voice a piano, you don't have to sell the customer on the job. You just go do it, the faculty or students praise your work, and there you find some gratification. Like this week, we're hosting a piano competition, and our instruments have really gotten a lot of compliments, not only from the contestants, but from guest artists from Northwestern and Eastman as well. There is definitely a feeling of gratification when you get complimented on your work by people from those programs. You get to work on quality instruments most of the time, you're working with people who understand the purpose of what you do and generally appreciate it. I get a sense of feeling somewhat important in my small world. That is, at least until payday. So, if I can have any small amount of input on your decision whether or not to take the full-time CAUT plunge, please don't be the low bidder. Schools look very closely at what other schools pay piano technicians. We've got to raise our salaries somehow, and we can't do that if everybody keeps accepting the low paying jobs. Jeff Jeff Tanner Piano Technician School of Music 813 Assembly ST University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 (803)-777-4392 jtanner@mozart.sc.edu
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