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4/22/03 Letter to UC President Atkinson

April 22, 2003

President Richard Atkinson
University of California
Office of the President
1100 Franklin St
Oakland, CA

Via FAX & US Mail
FAX: 987-9086

Dear President Atkinson:

We are writing to you to demand that you immediately direct all UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to place a firm moratorium on outside hires. Every day CUE receives information concerning layoffs - real and potential. Employees who have been told they are going to be laid off or who have been told they might be laid off in the future call us asking for help.

We believe that it is impermissible and costly for UC to hire clericals off the street when current employees are facing unemployment. In spite of the economic downturn, there is considerable turnover at UC. If all hiring into clerical positions had to be done from a pool made up of those either currently laid off or facing lay off, we predict that not one single UC clerical would be without a job and that UC would save money.

Laying people off at the same time UC is hiring is an expensive waste of money. Hiring costs are well known. There is the cost of advertising, recruiting, and processing applications not to mention orientation, setting people up in the system, as well the increased cost of training. It takes much longer to train someone who is unfamiliar with the internal UC processes than to orient someone who is an experienced UC employee. Finally, although it is rarely discussed, it costs money to lay off employees. There are costs associated with the processes of laying off staff as well as processing severance pay, the costs of services provided to those laid off and the costs of monitoring and implementing preferential rehire programs. These are expenditures that can and should be avoided.

Please let us know immediately that you have implemented this proposal and what other actions you plan to take to protect UC's hard working clericals.

Sincerely,

Claudia Horning
President

Margy Wilkinson
Chief Negotiator