Bargaining Report No. 6

2008: Bargaining Report #6: July 8 & 9, 2008, Oakland, California, UC Office of the President

The CUE bargaining team met and conferred with UC representatives on July 8-9 in Oakland at the Office of the President. The CUE team submitted requests for information regarding UC financial data, retirement and benefits data, and UC parking and transportation data.

Significant time during the two day bargaining sessions dealt with the guidelines, provisions, and contract language for the START program. At the July 8th session the CUE team offered a side letter proposal to UC which reflected our interests in getting the best possible situation for the CUE jurisdiction and also a proposal for changes to the START contract language.

On the morning of July 9th a subcommittee of both CUE and UC representatives met to develop START contract language that could be agreed upon to eliminate any ambiguities in the contract language.

We are continuing to negotiate with UC to get agreement on START contract language changes. The CUE team also reviewed and questioned UC representatives from the UCOP HR Compensation and Retirement Policy Design departments about background information provided by UC. Some of the background information is stated below.

BACKGROUND

In 2003, UC offered the first START (Staff & Academic Reduction in Time) Program. The Program was extended to June 30, 2006. 3,032 employees participated in the first START program. 84% of participants were Professional & Support staff and most were 40 years and older. Approximately 3% of CUE employees at the time of the first START program participated (656 employees.) UC states that this figure represents 22% of the total participation in START. Over the three year period UC saved almost $42 million dollars. CUE employees accounted for $5.3 million of that savings. This savings went to the departments to use as they saw fit.

In 2008, UC is offering the START Program again. CUE demanded to bargain over this program and the more the bargaining team learned about START and its implementation, the more apprehension we had. From the last two days of negotiations we learned that the UC team was not willing or able to make any substantive changes to the START program as the university had proposed. UC stated that this was a program that had already been rolled out to the University community and therefore UC had an interest in a "one size fits all" type of program since different programs could likely lead to implementation and application problems.

Therefore, they were not willing to consider the side letter that CUE proposed or any START contract language which substantively changed the program.

In addition to the stated consequences of participation in START that appear in the university's promotional literature and guidelines there are some natural consequences from participation in START the bargaining team feels should be given serious consideration prior to making a decision. Some of those consequences that are not explicitly stated are listed in the CON statement. Participation in the START program is dependent upon the department opting into the program. In 2003 the medical centers refused to participate in the START Program and the same is true for the 2008 START Program. Thus, medical center employees are ineligible to participate.

Our thanks to all those who participated in the START survey. Below we have provided the link to the PRO and CON analysis developed by the bargaining team and the statewide executive board.

CUE BARGAINING TEAM MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie (Chief Negotiator)
Stephanie Dorton (Berkeley)
Dan Lewis (Davis)
Dianna Sahhar (Irvine)
Susan Ervin (Los Angeles)
Alex Talpash (Riverside)
Tom Williams (San Diego, alternate)
Mary Higgins (San Francisco)
Khixaan Obioma-Sakhu (Santa Barbara)
Barbara Watts (LBNL, alternate)

START PRO/CON STATEMENT