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| Letters to Legislators: on the casual/temporary employee issue |
This is a letter written to John Burton, President Senate Pro Tem by Bob Campbell, retired Assemblymember on behalf of CUE. Here is a Word version of the letter.
June 3, 2002
To: The Hon John Burton
President Senate Pro Tem
Attention Robert “Bobby” Giroux
From: Bob Campbell
For, The Coalition of University Employees (CUE)
Re: Attached letter regarding “Floating Workers (Casual Workers).”
Dear:
I am sending you this letter as a matter of the gravest urgency concerning the University of California and it’s relationship to its employees, in this case the Coalition of University Employees (CUE). The following is another example of the way the UC bargains in bad faith. You will recall that in 2000 several of the UC unions, under the leadership of AFSCME (Willie Pelote), brought to the State Legislature’s attention the deplorable condition of certain UC employee, designated as “Casual Workers,” who did not have the same benefits or job security of career employees. To keep them in this status, UC had them work for periods just under one year and then they would be laid off for one day in order to prevent them from converting to career. Many of these employees had been working under these conditions for as long as fifteen (15) to twenty (20) years. The issue was so egregious that UC was embarrassed when it came to light and pledged to do something about it (see attachments). Well, if the following is doing something about it then I believe that the Legislature needs to once again involve itself in this issue.
I have attached an e-mail to me from one of the members of CUE who wants me to bring this to your attention. It would appear that upwards of three hundred (300) such employees (called “floaters”) will be given their walking papers on June 26 2002 and must be separated for four months only to be brought back at a later date, specifically in order to prevent them from attaining career status. This, in spite of the fact that UC pledged to the unions, to the State Auditor, and to members of the State Legislature that they would no longer engage in the practice of terminating these employees for this purpose. A practice which guarantees second-class citizenship to a whole host of employees who work for the premier public university in the world, which ought to be setting the example of a fair and equitable employer rather than a third-world oppressor.
I don’t believe that anyone should be allowed to tamper with any of the aspects of “Academic Freedom,” but when it comes to how an employer (any employer) in the State of California, treats its employees, the Legislature needs to involve itself; especially when it involves the retraction of what it had earlier bargained in good faith.
I know that you are quite busy during this most difficult Budget Crunch, but if I could ask you to call, or send a letter to President Atkinson and ask him to explain what is going on it would be appreciated. President Atkinson was one of the primary movers in getting the UC to deal with this whole issue of “Casual Workers.” UC must be made to understand that this is the twenty-first century and not the eighteenth. If you have any questions, please feel free to call.
Thank you for your kind consideration of this request.
Most Sincerely.
Bob Campbell
Assembly member, retired
For, The Coalition of University Employees
CC. Various members of the Legislature
Office of the Governor
Willie Pelote, AFSCME
P.S. Please find enclosed, a copy of note from Mary Higgins of CUE To Bob Campbell, bringing the issue to his attention and a copy of the April 2001 Report on the University of California, “New Policies should Make Career Appointments Available to More Employees and Make Campus Practices