| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #302, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
Instructions for Strike Vote
May 18, 2005
Dear CUE member:
Even though neutral fact-finder and arbitrator G. McKay recently ruled that UC can afford to give clerical pay raises, and even though he said that UC should give pay raises that are outlined in his fact-finding report that was issued as part of the 03-04 wage bargaining, UC has refused to do so. At the same time, the cost to UC clericals for benefits and parking continues to increase. As recently as May 2005, state legislators expressed shock and amazement that UC has not implemented the fact-finding report. UC clericals are in a unique position to hold a legal "economic" strike over issues of wages and benefits as bargained for 03-04 because we do not have a contract in effect right now.
We have to send UC a strong message with this vote. First, we need to have 40% of our members voting, or the vote won't officially count. Second, we need to have 2/3 of our voting members voting YES or it won't officially count. If we don't meet these two standards, it will send a message to the University that UC clericals are satisfied with our present wages! If we don't meet these standards, it will totally undermine our bargaining team's efforts.
PLEASE VOTE, AND PLEASE VOTE "YES."
How would a strike work? CUE's Executive Board would determine when and where the strike would occur as well as other logistics. Obviously, the CUE board would not plan to strike unless/until it believes that a winning strike can be organized.
What should we do? This decision will be made by members of CUE, by you!
PLEASE VOTE, AND PLEASE VOTE "YES."
You can vote by one of two ways: 1. By computer; 2. By paper ballot through your campus CUE local.
If you vote by computer you will need to know your UC employee number (which you can get from your paycheck or deposit statement or your department). This number is NOT your social security number. If you vote by computer, we can guarantee that UC will not have access to your vote if you vote from a non-UC computer. If you don't care if UC knows or not, use any computer. The computer program we are using requires that you identify yourself on the ballot. If you vote by computer, go to the following URL: http://www.responsetrack.net/cue/cue_survey. For confidential voting, see below.
Paper ballots: Campus CUE locals will have ballot boxes available. Location and time will be posted on the CUE union home page, and you can also call the appropriate number listed below. If you want your vote to be confidential, you should cast a paper ballot and not vote by computer.
If we receive more than one ballot from any member, none of those votes will be counted from that member. Non-members may join and vote at the ballot box locations.
BALLOTS MUST BE CAST BY COMPUTER OR AT A LOCAL POLLING PLACE BY 5:00 PM, MAY 25.
| Berkeley/UCOP Local: | 510-841-0700 | Riverside Local: | 951-788-2558 | |
| Davis Local: | 916-419-6457 | San Diego Local: | 619-296-4937 | |
| Irvine Local: | 949-509-6562 | San Francisco Local: | 415-522-9622 | |
| LBNL Local: | 510-926-9078 | Santa Barbara Local: | 805-685-5550 | |
| UCLA Local: | 310-473-7428 | Santa Cruz Local: | 831-420-0258 |
At the same time, UPTE, the union representing technical and other UC employees, is announcing its own strike call. In their May 16 bulletin, UPTE says its strike is set for Thursday, May 26. We want to make sure that you understand that CUE supports the UPTE strike and we encourage CUE members to honor the UPTE picket line. These are two different strikes. Each deserves your support.
CUE Executive Board May 17, 2005