Bargaining Update #9: Sept. 24-26, 2001, Oakland
At our most recent bargaining session in Oakland on September 24, 25 and
26, Peter Chester sat in for UC's chief negotiator Sharon Hayden, who was
out of the country. The following topics were discussed:
Wages
Just prior to this bargaining session, UC informed CUE that it was
increasing its previous wage offer of 0.9% to 1% and would offer clericals
no step, or merit, increases in the coming year. At this bargaining
session, CUE restated our position that UC can certainly afford all that
CUE has asked for and more. We will continue to talk about wages when we
meet next, October 9-11, 2001.
CUE handed UC revised counter proposals to several articles: Agreement,
Catastrophic leave, Corrective Active, Payroll Deduction
and Performance Evaluations. There are twelve other articles in the current
contract which were set aside while CUE and UC continue to bargain. This
was done because no changes were proposed to these articles. CUE does not
consider that this represents either progress or lack of progress.
Catastrophic Leave Program to Donate Sick Leave
As CUE reported before, UCSD is the only campus where donations of time may
not be made across occupational lines. For instance, clericals may not
donate time to their co-workers who are in the service or professional job
series, nor may they receive donations of time from co-workers outside the
clerical series. CUE has argued that this restriction is counter to the
intent of the system-wide policy. At this bargaining session, UC finally
said that the San Diego program would be upgraded when our second contract
is in place. CUE has asked for this policy change in writing.
Current Contract Expired
The current contract expired on September 30, 2001. UC had proposed
extending the contract indefinitely while negotiations continue. After
careful consideration, and in consultation with CUE's Executive Board, the
CUE team countered to extend the contract for one month in hopes of
completing bargaining. UC agreed to CUE's proposal, with the understanding
that future extensions may be possible if there is movement at the table.
We will bargain at UC Santa Barbara, October 9-11, 2001. Following that,
bargaining is scheduled for October 25-26, 2001 at a location to be
determined, and then 2 days in November. UC has not given us any dates
beyond that. We are urging UC to give us dates so that we may reach
agreement in our new contract expeditiously. All bargaining sessions are
open and we encourage clericals to join us in our upcoming sessions.
CUE's Bargaining Team:
- Margy Wilkinson, Chief Negotiator
- Chris Benoit, Lead Negotiator
- Mark Covington, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Becky Croll, Davis
- Hilary FitzGerald-Nicholson, Berkeley / UCOP
- Deborah Freeman, San Francisco
- Jody Galluzzi, San Diego
- Elaine Hernandez, Irvine
- Jack Joshua, Santa Barbara
- Connie McGrath, Riverside
- Zoe Sodja, Santa Cruz
- Anita Windom-Jones, Los Angeles
