| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #302, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
UCOP - August 26-28, 2009:
The CUE bargaining team met with the UC team on August 26 - 28 at the Office of the President (UCOP) in Oakland. During the session the team worked on and gave proposals to UC that seek to improve the provisions and language in the Health and Safety (Article 8) and Layoff (Article 13). The CUE team also discussed the proposed Salary Reduction / Furlough Plan and the proposed holiday curtailments (campus closures) with the UC team. The UC Salary Reduction/Furlough Plan still leaves many unanswered questions regarding implementation of the plan and the proposed curtailment days. Additionally, the FAQ's on the UCOP website are incomplete.
The CUE team strongly disagrees with the University's position regarding CUE represented staff currently on START. The University plan requires these employees to use vacation, compensatory time off (CTO) or leave without pay during the campus closure periods. The affect of this requirement constitutes a double hit for employees who are taking voluntary salary reductions without the benefit of paid furlough days offered to unrepresented employees.
The CUE team presented UC a proposal for salary savings which was rejected by the University. The CUE proposal in exchange for guarantees of no layoffs for CX bargaining unit employees included deferring 2008-09 salary increases to 2011-12. This salary deferral would have saved the University approximately $19.5 million per year and would not necessitate a salary reduction for CX bargaining unit employees. Salaries for 2008-09 would remain flat and CUE would continue to negotiate salary increases for 2009-10.
The CUE proposal also called for the University to use funds from the University's unrestricted net assets to offset any additional projected University budget shortfall. Despite the inability to reach agreement with the University the CUE team continues to brainstorm other ideas to accomplish the $13M in savings UC is requiring from the CX bargaining unit. On Thursday, members of the team met in a side-bar with Lynn Boland (Executive Director HR), Shelly Nielsen (Interim Sr. Director Employee Relations), and Peter Chester (UC chief negotiator) to discuss some alternatives as supposals (potential scenarios) and to discover if the ideas the CUE team are considering as alternatives to the UC Salary Reduction/Furlough plan would be seriously considered by UC.
The CUE team is making every effort to gain guarantees regarding the University plan and its effects, but have been unable to get the University to agree to no temporary layoffs during the life of the plan. It is clear to us that even with a guaranteed agreement of no layoffs in relation to the salary reduction/furlough plan; UC can and will find other reasons to lay off its employees.
On Friday the CUE team had the opportunity to ask questions of the VP of Financial Management Services, Peter Taylor, who insists the University is experiencing a cash flow problem. Mr. Taylor also stated that although the University is in regular contact with creditors the University has not noticed its creditors of any financial emergency or inability of the University to meet its debt obligations. Peter Taylor played a critical role in securing the loan which allowed the University to loan the State of California $200 million. It is incredulous that a business in the thralls of a financial emergency has the ability to borrow $200 million and then loan that money to the State which legitimately has a financial crisis and sinking credit rating.
The University has indicated it is prepared to issue temporary layoff notices to CX bargaining unit employees since no agreement has been reached before the September 1, 2009 start date for the Salary Reduction/ Furlough Program for unrepresented employees.
If you receive a temporary layoff notice, we suggest that you immediately do the following:
Remember to participate in the Vote of No Confidence in Mark G. Yudof sponsored by the UCUC Coalition at the polling locations or by absentee ballot at: http://www.upte.org/vote/
We would like to thank the members from the Berkeley campus, UCOP, and UCSF who came to observe the negotiations. Your support is greatly appreciated: Ute Rupp, Michelle Good, Elena Zaslavsky and Linda Morgan; Loys Everett from UCOP; and Mary Gayle Thompson from UCSF.
The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for September 10-11 at the Office of the President and September 17-18 at UCSD. We encourage bargaining unit members to attend.
CUE Bargaining Team:
Dan Lewis, Davis
Helen Jefferson, LBNL
Susan Ervin, Los Angeles
Mary Higgins, San Francisco
Dorthea Stewart, San Diego
Dianna Sahhar, Irvine
Stephanie Dorton, Berkeley
Gail Moore, Riverside
Jill Monthei, Santa Barbara
Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie, Chief Negotiator, Berkeley
Jason Rabinowitz, CUE attorney