UC's latest wage offer to CUE is for 3.5% in the first year
(1999-2000) and 6.5% for the second year. In UC's proposal a total
of 10% is spread out over the two years, but there are no merits and
no extra steps in that proposal.In addition, UC insists that they
will not discontinue the Incentive Awards program. If those funds
were made available to be put into base salary, it would amount to a
1.3% across the board increase.
UC has indicated that they are willing to offer extra steps, and even
to restore merits in the second year, but only by reducing the across
the board range adjustments. To add one step to the top of the
range, UC demands that the cost of living increase be reduced by 1%.
In order to pay merits in any year, UC demands that we give up
another 1.5% from the cost of living increase for that year. To get
both a new step at the top of range, and a merit increase in one
year, UC demands a reduction of 2.5% from the cost of living increase.
CUE believes that the 10% total cost of living increase is within 1%
of what we think clericals need to start to make up for what we have
lost to inflation, but we are bargaining hard to retain merits and to
add new steps at the top of the range.
UC's offer of no merits means that those clericals who are
merit-eligible would receive a total 10% increase by July 2001 but
would be cheated out of up to 10% additional pay increases they would
have received in step increases.
UC is attempting to pit those of us who are topped out against those
who could receive merits. CUE is continuing to bargain hard with UC
and will make every effort to get a decent cost of living increase
without giving up merits.
We will have a more complete report on bargaining out in a few days.
Your efforts to put pressure on the University are working -- please
keep it up!
CUE's Bargaining Team:
- Christine Benoit (Riverside)
- Stephane Berlaud (San Francisco)
- Debbie Ceder (Santa Barbara)
- Mark Covington (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
- Jennifer Goodheart (Santa Cruz)
- LeAnn Herigstad (Davis)
- Alyce Herrera (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
- Lyn Kelly (Los Angeles)
- Robin Luczak (San Diego)
- Joanne Murray (Santa Barbara)
- Cynthia Norman (Irvine)
- Margy Wilkinson (Berkeley)
- Mark Blum (Chief Negotiator)
