March 27, 2007
As many of you know, CUE is engaged in a long-term campaign directed toward UC
administration to bring all of our wages up to fair standards. As part of our
last contract negotiations, we proposed and succeeded in getting UC to agree to
the creation of a "Joint Committee on Compensation" (JCC). This committee of
CUE members and UC Labor Relations Representatives meets at the Office of the
President in Oakland quarterly. As a result of the contractual equity increases
negotiated by the CUE Reps to the JCC, CUE-represented employees throughout the
state received increases to their base salaries and in some instances
additional equity half-steps in May and December 2006.
"Compensation" can be a complex concept, especially when discussing wages. CUE
has several long-term goals in the area of wages. Two of these goals are campus
parity for all salaries on all the campuses (i.e. standardize the salaries). We
are also concerned with "internal equity" at each campus, medical center and
laboratory.
Recently, UC offered us a small amount of money to be distributed amongst
clericals making $40,000 and less. UC has a commitment to the State
Legislature to bring up salaries to "market level" within the next 10 years.
UC itself publicly acknowledges that employees across the system are on average
10% below market. Our research indicates that 10% is an inaccurate assessment
of UC's market lag. Given the damage to UC's public image because of the
executive pay scandals, UC is under pressure to give money to lower paid
workers. It seems that UC has defined "lower paid" workers as employees earning
$40,000 and under. CUE does not necessarily agree with that definition because
of current economic studies and data that is available on the cost of living
standards for the state of California.
The committee met at UC Davis on March 21st and came to an agreement with UC
for a disbursement of $2.7 million dollars. It will be disbursed as follows:
1.5% to any clerical in a job title with a weighted average salary less than
$30,000; 1% for any clerical in a job title with a weighted average salary of
$30,000 - $32,000; 0.75% to any clerical in a job title with a weighted average
salary of $32,000 - $40,000. The effective date will be 4/1/07. (The increase
will be reflected on the 5/1 check and first bi-weekly check after a pay period
ending after 4/1/07.) Approximately 11,800 CUE represented employees will
receive these increases to their base salary. There were also some additional
provisions for three specific campuses: Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara.
The full agreement can viewed on the CUE web site at:
JCC TA
We see this as only a beginning. CUE is working diligently to do all it can to
get our wages to a fair standard level, one that allows us to support ourselves
and our families with the dignity that truly reflects the value of the work
that we perform for UC.