During the 1980s and early 1990s UUP worked to correct salary disparities on behalf of its bargaining unit using a fund established in its contracts with the state. The contracts specifically prohibited the use of the fund for across-the-board salary increases and left the determination of the exact allocation of the disparity funds to a joint state/UUP committee. The primary intent of the disparity project was to identify specific categories of employees whose salaries were below national standards, not to address individual salary disparities. This did not prevent many bargaining unit members, however, from writing to UUP to make a case as to why their individual salary was unfair and should be corrected. For the most part, particularly for the latter disparity funds, materials submitted by individual applicants were not retained.
The records in this series are organized alphabetically within two groups, based on the contract year to which the appeals related. The first set of applications were made in late 1983 and early 1984, primarily by groups (particularly librarians). The application files include correspondence and supporting documentation demonstrating how the applicants' salaries compared locally and with their profession at large, and additional materials supporting their claim for disparity payment. There is no uniform set of materials provided by each group or individual applicant. Also included in this series is correspondence, including additional letters to UUP making the applicants' case for disparity funding as well as individual commentary and complaints regarding being overlooked for disparity payments. The rosters included in this series list by campus and title the disparity payments to be made; it is unclear however if these were drafts or the final copies of the payment rosters. Only group applications are included in this series for the later disparity program in 1987-88. Like the earlier applications, they contain varying amounts of information submitted by each applicant group.
For additional materials relating to salary disparity, see the project and subject files of President Reilly in Series 5 of Subgroup III; and the records of the Disparity Committee in Series 4 of Subgroup IV, Office of the Secretary.