CUE and UC met in San Francisco and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab on April 14-16, 1999. We discussed interim wages and work rules, as well as some new contract proposals.
CUE gave UC contract language on four articles -- grievance procedure, arbitration procedure, discipline and dismissal, and layoffs. CUE's proposal on grievance and arbitration would make the process speedier and more equitable. CUE wants language on discipline and dismissal that would improve due process and assure that employees were given a fair chance to address problems before being disciplined. And CUE's language
on layoffs would require that layoffs only occur when necessary, and would make the standards for seniority more uniform throughout the campuses.
We also came back to the issue of interim wages and work rules. CUE pointed out that on some campuses, UC Labor Relations offices recently sent letters to managers and supervisors in response to CUE's email on work rules. UC's letter said that proposed work rules would be based exclusively on bona fide business reasons -- an offer UC has never made directly to CUE. In this bargaining session, CUE told UC that we are willing to accept this language as long as there is a mechanism in place for resolving disputes over the meaning of "bona fide business reasons." CUE made a specific offer to UC that would resolve this issue -- UC is considering our proposal and has promised a counter
proposal soon.
CUE's bargaining team gave UC's bargainers copies of over 500 letters from clerical staff -- from Davis to San Diego -- asking CUE not to give UC the right to make unilateral changes in work rules. A common theme in these letters was that even though we all desperately need a pay raise, even the 2% raise being withheld by UC, there must be some limits on UCs ability to generate and change work rules such as dress codes, attendance standards, and schedule changes. Slightly over 90% of the letters sent to CUE supported our position that there must be a business necessity for any such rule changes.
At UC's insistence, CUE agreed to bargain for 2 hours on Friday over the UC Davis Medical Center administration's efforts to impose 8 to 5 work schedules on hospital clerical staff who currently have alternate work schedules. No agreement was reached, but further negotiations will take place over these proposals. In the meantime employees at the UCD Medical Center will continue to work their alternate schedules.
The next bargaining session will take place at UC Santa Cruz on May 26-28, 1999.
CUE's Bargaining Team:
- Kris Amaral (San Francisco)
- Christine Benoit (Riverside)
- Debbie Ceder (Santa Barbara)
- Jennifer Goodheart (Santa Cruz)
- Mary Harrington (Santa Cruz)
- Lyn Kelly (Los Angeles)
- Robin Luczak (San Diego)
- Linda Moser (Davis)
- Joanne Murray (Santa Barbara)
- Cynthia Norman (Irvine)
- John Randolph (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
- Margy Wilkinson (Berkeley)
- Mark Blum (Chief Negotiator)
