| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) CUE TEAMSTERS LOCAL 2010 | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #301, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
In bargaining between the union and its employer "impasse" occurs when no agreement has been reached AND both parties believe that they are unable to make any more movement -- the union is unwilling to reduce or restrict their demands and the employer is unwilling to put anything else on the table. For institutions of higher education in California and its unions, impasse is governed by law (the HEERA or the Higher Education Employment Relations Act) and administered by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), a state agency. If either the union or the employer believes impasse has been reached, either party may appeal to the PERB to declare impasse (if the parties agree they may petition jointly). If the Public Employment Relations Board agrees, the process would begin.
Impasse is a 90-day process and includes mediation and "factfinding." Mediation involves meeting with a neutral party who attempts to get the parties to come to agreement. If that fails, the parties move to factfinding. During factfinding, which is similar to an arbitration or an informal court hearing, UC and CUE would present evidence and witnesses to support their positions. The evidence is heard by a three-member panel. Two of the panel members would be selected by CUE and UC (one each), and the third would be a mutually-accepted "neutral" party (often a labor arbitrator). If CUE and UC are unable to agree on a neutral party, the PERB would appoint someone. After hearing all the facts and evidence, the panel renders a decision or finding. The parties have 10 days (during which the decision is kept confidential) to use the decision to hammer out an agreement. If no agreement is reached, at the end of ten days the finding is made public. At this point the employer can accept or reject the findings in whole or in part. The panel's findings would be advisory only. Even if the findings were to favor the union's position, the university would be allowed to implement language on wages and other contract issues that are based on UC's "last/best" offer in bargaining. At that point, CUE members would have the legal right to strike on economic issues (i.e., a poor wage offer.)