| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #302, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
On Wednesday, July 17, at 8:00 a.m., at the UC Regents meeting at Laurel Heights, University of California clerical employees will deliver stacks of petitions to The Regents calling for a continuation of merit pay. Over 5,000 have signed a petition asking President Atkinson not to withdraw merit increases for the 18,000 clerical employees at the nine UC campuses, as has been threatened at the bargaining table this year.
A report by economist Peter Donohue, Ph.D., "Penny wise, Pound Foolish" will also be presented to The Regents. The report shows that unusually high employee turnover (at 54 percent in the first year, and 26 percent overall) is more costly than paying merits, because few clericals actually receive merit pay: Long-term clericals stop receiving these pay increases when they reach the top of their position's pay-range, and short-term clericals receive few or no increases during their average tenure of 3.15 years.
Merit pay has been a traditional part of compensation for clerical workers at UC for decades. Nevertheless, despite its $2.9 billion in unrestricted reserves, UC now proposes to cancel merit pay. UC claims merit pay costs $1.9 million annually and, due to state budget cuts, is not affordable this year. Although it maintains that money cannot be taken out of the $2.9 billion reserves, because it is intended for other budget items, these reserves are not legally restricted. UC's AAA bond rating proves that UC is in excellent financial health, and that some could be used for merit pay.
According to Claudia Horning, President of the Coalition of University Employees (CUE), the union representing UC clericals, "Paying merits would reduce the high cost of turnover in the clerical bargaining unit, and certainly cost less than the replacement costs of hiring new employees. At a 26 percent annual turnover rate, the total cost to UC of annual clerical turnover is about $286 million, much more than it would cost to pay merit increases."
CUE is an independent union representing more than 18,000 clerical workers at all UC campuses and the Lawrence National Berkeley Laboratory. Clerical workers at UC have been working without a contract since November, 2001.
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