Response to UC's Disinformation Regarding Bargaining

Coalition of University Employees (CUE)

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10/7/02

You may recognize the following memo from the UC President's Office. We have interrpolated responses into the text.

One point we want to make at the outset: When UC tries to convince clericals that a strike based on unfair labor practices (ULPs) is illegal and that individuals might be disciplined for striking, the University is actually breaking the law and committing another ULP by violating the bargaining law that the employer may not threaten to harm employees for participating in legal activities.

UC Disinformation: The University and CUE met in Oakland September 12-13 to continue negotiations on the contract for clerical employees. This was the first bargaining session following the union's illegal strike on August 26-28 at UC Berkeley and the Office of the President.

CUE Responds: UC's claim that the Berkeley/UCOP strike was illegal has not been upheld by any court or non-UC authority. The Berkeley/UCOP strike was based on UC's ULPs. CUE has filed 20 strong ULP charges against UC with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Strikes based on ULPs are legal.

UC Disinformation: UC continues to wait for union response to comprehensive offer and for union proposal; clarifies August 7 offer. Rather than respond to the University's August 7 Comprehensive Offer, or present one of its own, the union began negotiations by stating confusion about the two proposals UC discussed on August 7 and requesting that the parties focus on a local personnel matter.

CUE Responds: CUE responded to UC's August 7 take-it-or-leave-it offer by filing a ULP charge and leading a strike that closed most of the Berkeley campus for the critical first three days of the semester. UC's August 7 offer was yet another illegal attempt to void bargaining by making it clear that any options CUE might present would not be considered. Unilaterally presuming "impasse" in this way made their take-it-or-leave-it offer totally inappropriate. The local personnel matter concerned another ULP CUE has filed against UC for threatening to discipline a member of the CUE bargaining team without just cause.

UC Disinformation: UC clarified for the union that on August 7, it presented the union with only one offer: a Comprehensive Offer conditional upon signing off on it as a new contract. At the same meeting, UC informed CUE leadership of the Last, Best, Final offer it would take to mediation and even impose should the parties not reach an agreement following impasse proceedings. The conditional offer contains improvements that the University proposed in at least three areas as incentive for settlement: Layoff, Health & Safety, Access and Union Rights.

CUE Responds: In fact, UC's take-it-or-leave-it position was impasse posturing and not good faith bargaining. CUE considers UC's actions here to be "regressive" bargaining, pushing the parties further apart, rather than trying to bring them together.

UC Disinformation: Time running out as budget uncertainty continues; UC to set response deadline for union: Given the continuing uncertainty surrounding the University's final budget, the University repeated its request that CUE look at the considerable amount of time that has been spent in bargaining and to consider ways to conclude negotiations swiftly. At its next bargaining session, UC hopes the budget picture will be clearer and that the University will be prepared to set a deadline for CUE to respond to the conditional offer.

CUE Responds: UC receives less than 30% of its salary money from the state budget. A state budget shortfall does NOT need to translate into the same cut for UC, and it certainly does not require a cut in the money for our salaries. UC has 2 billion dollars in legally unrestricted reserves, and a fair pay raise for UC clericals would barely make a dent in this. UC is responsible for dragging out bargaining; it is their pattern in bargaining with other UC unions as well. UC has not changed its wage offer in months, while it continues to deny the existence of its reserved billions and massive unrestricted funds. UC prolongs bargaining hoping to make clericals impatient with the bargaining process. At the same time, UC makes money. High turnover during the bargaining period lowers the bill for UC when retroactivity is calculated, and in the meantime UC, not the clerical employee, is receiving interest on the unpaid money.

UC Disinformation: Wages: UC is eager to give 2001-02 raises: The University has said unequivocally that the University would provide no further increases for the 2001-02 year. It is now past that fiscal year and the University wants to provide those salary increases, no matter how small CUE thinks they are, to the deserving clerical employees.

CUE Responds: The pay raise that UC is so eager to forward to "deserving" employees would amount to $0.14/hour for the average employee. Were UC's top administrators so much more deserving than clericals when they received 25% pay raises on top of their 6-figure salaries?

UC Disinformation: The University shared with CUE President Atkinson's recent communication regarding the additional state budget cuts of about $750 million that the governor has yet to make, which could result in additional cuts to UC's budget of up to $155 million. In light of this, UC's Chief Negotiator identified the importance of understanding the language in UC's wage proposal to CUE and the fact that the final budget allocation has to be in place in order for UC to commit the salary increases for 2002.

CUE Responds: Translated into plain English, UC withdrew the earlier wage proposal and told CUE that it will give clericals a cost of living increase of an UNKNOWN SIZE, at an UNKNOWN TIME. We cannot accept that. UC cannot hide its unfair labor philosophy behind this year's state budget. We repeat: There is no reason why the University's salary offer needs to be tied so closely to state budget shortfalls. That clerical salaries are so low is simply a matter of priorities; UC clericals are very low on UC's priority list.

UC Disinformation: Some progress made, layoffs: As promised on August 7, the University exchanged proposals with CUE regarding layoffs and both sides acknowledged that progress was made. UC again reiterated the conditional offer to the union by presenting the list of articles in the offer made on August 7, with the exception of the newly revised Layoff article. Next Meeting: The parties scheduled another bargaining session for October 10-11 in Oakland.

CUE Responds: There has been some progress in the Layoff article. Much progress still needs to be made-for example, in the Health & Safety and Wages articles-before this will be a contract we can accept. UC’s 18,000 clericals deserve good faith, honest bargaining. Campus by campus, clerical employees are showing themselves ready to strike to make this point.