Bargaining Report No. 35

On Thursday and Friday, November 2 & 3, 2000 and again on Tuesday, November 7, 2000, the CUE bargaining team met with UC and concluded negotiations of the first CUE - UC agreement for clerical employees. All outstanding issues have been settled for purposes of this contract. The bargaining team has voted unanimously to support this proposed new agreement.

After the CUE Executive Board makes a recommendation, the proposed agreement will be forwarded to CUE members who will ultimately decide, by democratic vote, whether to accept or reject the new contract.

Some improvements CUE has made include expanded employee options for overtime compensation, expanded eligibility for overtime pay, and improved holiday, vacation, and other leave policies, protections for fair and respectful treatment, protection of employee privacy, limitations on arbitrary work rules, health and safety improvements, fairer performance evaluations, employee rights to job-related training, protections from harassment and discrimination at the University, and other significant advances.

The CUE bargaining team is preparing a more detailed summary of these gains for review before the CUE membership vote. This summary will be available on CUE's website next week.

WAGES

The wage agreement covers pay increases for a two-year period from October 1, 1999 (paid retroactively) through the current year beginning October 1, 2000. There are across-the-board increases that apply to all casual and career employees. In addition there are increases for merit eligible employees and topped-out employees. Clerical employees at LBNL have reached agreement on a separate wage proposal due to the different wage structure at the Lab.

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SUMMARY

1) All casual and career employees will receive a minimum across-the-board base-building increase above current wages of 7.8% compounded over the two-year period.

A 2.8% salary range adjustment, retroactive to Oct. 1, 1999.
A 2% salary range adjustment, retroactive to July 1, 2000.
A 2% salary range adjustment, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2000.
A 1% salary range adjustment, effective Sept. 1, 2001.
A $100 contract signing bonus for career employees.

2) All merit eligible employees will receive acceleration of their merit schedules as delayed merits are eliminated and all clericals move to a single annual merit payout date of Oct. 1. Thus merit eligible clericals who received 1998 merit increases in January or July 1999 will all be eligible to receive a second merit increase retroactive to October 1, 1999 and a third merit increase retroactive to October 1, 2000. This totals a possibility of three merit increases (or a possible advancement of three steps) over 15 months.

Merit increases for eligible employees will be retroactive to Oct. 1, 1999.
Merit increases for eligible employees will be retroactive to Oct. 1, 2000.

3) A new step will be added to the top of the ranges for ALL clerical titles effective as of October 1, 2000.

4) All retirees are eligible for full retroactivity, consistent with UCRS regulations.

5) Employees who were reclassified out of the clerical bargaining unit after July 1, 2000 will receive retroactive pay for the period they were in the clerical unit.

6) CUE is scheduled to continue negotiations with UC regarding supplemental increased benefits and wage eligibility for casual employees.

7) UC has agreed to CUE's proposal that no CUE dues or fair share fees will be deducted from retroactive pay.

8) In Spring 2001, CUE will be negotiating wages for the year beginning October 1, 2001.

WORK RULES

CUE has negotiated a work rules article that, among other employee protections, limits future changes in work rules to those justified by reasons of bona fide business or health and safety necessity. If the University implements the new or changed rule, and if any clerical employee is harmed by an unnecessary change, a neutral arbitrator will have binding authority to order UC to reverse the injury to the clerical employee.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Until now, there have been few limits on the University's right to impose credit or criminal background checks, and many UC employees have been subjected to these checks.

The proposed language we have negotiated places strict limitations on the expansion of background check positions. Background checks may not be required for current employees without meeting the work rule standard of bona fide business or health and safety necessity. Credit checks are not permitted as part of a background check, except where required for bonding (or the equivalent) or for POST dispatcher certification. CUE's proposed agreement grants clericals the right to dispute incorrect background check information. It also requires specific procedures to assure confidentiality of information and requires destruction of collected information after a specified period of time. Current employees continuing in their present position cannot be subjected to background checks unless required by outside law or regulation.

GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION

Grievance and arbitration are the procedures by which many other provisions of the contract can be enforced. CUE has negotiated language that encourages informal resolutions at early steps. Grievances will automatically advance to the next step whenever UC fails to respond. CUE has negotiated rights of clerical employees to recover errors in compensation -- such as underpaid wages -- for up to three years.

PROTECTION FROM DISCRIMINATION

The proposed CUE contract now alleged violations of the non-discrimination article and harassment protections to be resolved by a neutral arbitrator who has binding authority over UC, without the employee having to go to court.

The above are just a few examples of the kinds of advances we have negotiated for clericals in the proposed systemwide contract. A complete summary will be provided soon.

AN ON-GOING CONCERN

A significant part of the wage increases we have negotiated for years 1999 and 2000 will be paid retroactively. UC has insisted that it might take 150 days from the ratification date to pay out the wage increases. In large part, the timing is up to the local campus payroll offices, and CUE encourages clericals to let their local chancellors (and the Office of the President) know that 150 days is too long to wait. Parking and vanpool fees, frozen for the past three years, will be maintained at their current rates until 45 days after employees receive their retroactive pay increases.

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Full text of the contract is on the CUE website at http://www.cueunion.org/bargaining/contract.php.

In order to vote on whether or not to ratify this contract, you will need to be a member (have filled out a membership form) which can be found on the website at http://www.cueunion.org/. Information on the process for voting on this tentative agreement will be sent out soon.

Respectfully,

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)