I have an awesome job at a telescope. I love it. It’s an industrial jobs and I get to work in a range of things from moving giant machinery with overheads cranes to repairing fiber on light collecting instruments. Last year a telescope operator quit and they created a temporary assignment because it would be too expensive for me to fill in at my hourly rate (though it’s already in my job duties), effectively to move me to salary. Management and university HR determined a salary and implemented it effective immediately without any good faith offer. By the time I realized how bad the salary was and complained about it, I lost 214 hours of overtime and $7500 dollars. I continued working the telescope operator position as hourly for the next few months until they assigned someone else (who doesn’t have the job duties). Their explanation? “We though you agreed” and “you worked an exempt job”. Terrible explanations for how this was legal. I’ve been borderline tolerating it but this week I left the telescope balling with tears in my eyes and crying because I can’t tolerate it anymore and likely won’t return to work because they have destroyed all my trust in management and the university. Such a small amount of money for them but a huge amount for me.

How is this even supposed to work?

I’ll tell you the same thing I tell myself and others like us,

Evil wouldn’t be trying so hard if they didn’t feel they were in danger. We’ve made incredible strides in justice for the past two hundred years and they’re not going to stop us. The road has always been rocky. I’m an atheist, but love your neighbor and do God’s work, God does no work on their own but only through your hands. Make your hand loving hands. Be well my friend.

University of Arizona. They have the largest astronomy budget in the country for a university.

I do maintenance at a telescope and occasionally fill in as telescope operator. It doesn’t pay great but the work has been fulfilling. A telescope operator recently quit and they implemented a temp salary (removing my overtime) without discussing the numbers first and ended up putting me at the bottom of a lower pay scale. I thought I was stuck but eventually complained and got reverted back to hourly, but they screwed me out of 200+ hours of overtime because “I didn’t complain soon enough and therefore that is the same as me accepting that salary”. I’m going to quit soon because I don’t work for free.

Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy…