The Three R's: Raises, Rights, Respect. CUE's Bargaining Goals
CUE began bargaining for its first contract with UC in August, a contract that will cover the 19,000 clerical employees at the UC campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Based on the results of our bargaining survey and discussions with CUE members across the state, we have developed the following outline for our bargaining agenda. It does not
include all of what we want or will bargain for over time, but it gives a sense of our priorities today. We know that some of these items will take more than one cycle of bargaining to win, but we also know they are worth fighting for -- and worth building a strong union to achieve.
Clerical employees throughout the UC system are concerned about fair treatment. We work hard for the university - we deserve no less than the Three "Rs": Respect, Rights, and Raises. What are our goals in contract negotiations in this first contract, and what are CUE's long-term plans?
FAIR PAY:
Our survey shows that clericals favor cost-of-living type pay increases over other kinds. Through contract negotiations we will work to maintain cost-of-living increases ("range adjustments") to the extent that our strength, as measured by a growing membership, allows. We will fight UC's plans to replace arbitrary and unfair "incentive-award" bonus pay programs that do not increase our base pay levels. CUE'S long-term goals include consistency in pay from campus to campus so that those doing the same work are on the same pay scale.
Job classifications and salary levels for clericals at UC do not reflect the increasingly high level of skill and responsibility that is demanded in today's workplace, or the constant need for upgrading those skills. Job classification also needs to be more consistent. Major differences exist across campuses and between campuses. Equal pay for equal work begins with consistent classifications. The reclassification process should be clear and available to everyone, so when we take on extra duties, our job titles are reviewed for accuracy.
FAIR PLAY:
In some departments, work rules, including attendance standards, are unevenly applied and often have no business reason behind their implementation. Strong contract language on work rules will protect employees from being denied the right to use their accrued sick leave or having to work under unreasonable rules or standards developed by departments or individual supervisors.
JOB SECURITY FOR ALL CLERICALS:
Casual employees do the same work as their career coworkers, but with fewer benefits, and no job security. Some casual employees work in the same job year after year, yet UC refuses to make them career. UC's increased use of casuals to do work that could be done by career clerical employees hurts career job security as well. The unnecessary subcontracting of clerical work to private companies or temp agencies decreases the number of good jobs and allows for a gradual deterioration in the quality of work. Preventing the abuse of casual employees and subcontracting, and protecting job security, are some of CUE's goals in bargaining our first contract.
Our job security is also undermined by UC's practice of designing and redesigning "layoff units" to meet management's desire to pick and choose who will be laid off. At present, some layoff units are as big as a few hundred, some as small as 1 person -- and they change at management's whim. Since selection for layoff is determined in large part by each worker's seniority relative to others in that layoff unit, management is now able to wipe away seniority protections by simply redrawing layoff units.
HEALTH AND SAFETY:
Health and safety on the job - from ergonomic work stations to decent air quality at the work site - these are issues that affect us every day. UC should be held to the highest standards of safety for all employees that serve the university, including hospital employees, whose role is so important in providing high-quality patient care.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
Education and training help clericals increase their skills to improve chances for promotion and to become more valuable employees. All employees should have the chance to get the training they need to build their skills for their current job, or move up the career ladder.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND NONDISCRIMINATION:
While the UC Regents have taken a lead role in making "affirmative action" fighting words in California, federal funding mandates affirmative action in certain aspects of employment at UC. We value diversity and the programs that make it possible: programs of nondiscrimination and affirmative action. One clear example of discriminatory employment practices is UC's failure to extend benefits to unmarried heterosexual domestic partners -in violation of UC's own claim that it will not discriminate based on marital status.
RESPECT:
Clericals are an important part of the university community. Our work makes the university function. We should be treated fairly and with respect by our supervisors and by UC management. We should have workloads that are manageable, so that clerical employees don't end up shouldering the burden of doing more work with less people.
THE UNIVERSITY:
We are proud to be such an important part of the University of California, one of the greatest public universities anywhere. We value the University as the best that a public education system can offer and we are concerned that by increasing student fees, the Regents unnecessarily make the University inaccessible to a growing number of people, including our children. We believe that UC can be funded in other ways, and we urge a stop to the year-by-year increase in student fees.