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UC - AFT NEWS
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UC-AFT Lecturers on Strike: Background and News Coverage |
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August 26 News
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Flash: PERB Issues Complaint Over UC Administration
Unfair Labor Practice
UC-AFT received word today that on Thursday of last week, the Public
Employment Relations Board (PERB) acted on one of UC-AFT's unfair
labor practice charges against UC, issuing a complaint against the
administration for unilaterally increasing the employee cost of
health care benefits, including co-payments. This increase is a
mandatory subject of collective bargaining, and the PERB complaint
specifies that UC administration's refusal to meet and confer over
these changes interferes with the right of Unit 18 members to be
represented by their bargaining agent, and that UC administration
therefore "failed and refused to meet and negotiate in good
faith with Charging Party [i.e., UC-AFT--ed.] in violation of Government
Code section 3543.5(c)."
UC-AFT President Kevin Roddy, lecturer in Medieval Studies at UC
Davis, responded, "We are gratified that PERB has found merit
in our argument that UC committed an Unfair Labor Practice around
its health care bargaining. This fits into the administration's
consistent pattern of unfair labor practices. We're glad this issue
is finally being addressed."
The next step in the PERB process will be to set a hearing date
on the complaint. Meanwhile...
Why are UCB lecturers going on strike?
To protest the University administration's unfair labor practices.
The University administration is claiming the strike is "illegal"
because the UC-AFT hasn't declared impasse at the bargaining table.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This is an unfair labor
practice strike, concerted action around which is legally protected
activity.
The mail ballot vote, counted on Monday, August 19, was 88% statewide
in favor of job actions this fall. Campus votes varied from 72 to
99 percent. Reasons for the vote:
Members are frustrated at the slow-motion pace of negotiations,
and at UC's failure to negotiate in good faith. Important issues
include:
Unfair Labor Practices
UC-AFT has charged UC administration with failing to provide legally-required
information necessary to conduct negotiations. It has also charged
UC administration with sending representatives to the negotiations
table without the authority to make agreements. UC-AFT has filed
numerous unfair labor practice charges with PERB at the campus level
as well. The two day UC Davis lecturer strike held in May of this
year, the first ever lecturer job action in the UC system, was also
over unfair labor practices.
COLA
After two years, UC has failed to deliver the Cost of Living Adjustments
(COLAs) allocated by the state to UC for the unit. All other units
except the clerical unit have received their COLAs. This doesn't
even address the UC-AFT's request for percentage parity with senate
faculty raises. Lecturers make far less than their senate faculty
counterparts for the same exact work. Most lecturers do not work
full time, although most would if they could.
Job Security
One of the central issues in bargaining is job security. The University
currently forces lecturers to accept either one-year or semester-to-semester
contracts. Only after their sixth year are they eligible for three-year
contracts, and the University often purposely releases lecturers
before they become eligible for three-year contracts, simply to
keep salaries (costs) lower. Some lecturers have taught at UC for
twenty or thirty years, and are still considered "temporary"
employees. Nearly all lecturers hold advanced degrees in their fields.
Neutral Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
UC-AFT would like to see binding arbitration for the highest level
of dispute resolution, or at the very least some form of neutral
dispute resolution, that doesn't allow UC administration to make
final decisions on employee relations matters in which the administration
has a clear bias.
Members are increasingly unhappy about their conditions of employment.
Low Pay Relative to Qualifications
Lecturers have no guaranteed salary schedule. They can be paid anything
above the minimum hiring rate, and are not guaranteed any automatic
advancement regardless of years of service. All adjustments, other
than cost-of-living raises mandated by the Legislature, are at the
sole discretion of the administration. The average UC Berkeley lecturer
earns $23,297. Half of UC-Berkeley lecturers earned $18,511 or less
last year. Among those with six or more years of service, the average
annual UC earnings last term was $32,165.
The university says that most lecturers just want to supplement
their professional salaries in their chosen field with teaching,
or the prestige of working for UC. Our surveys show the majority
of our members want full-time academic work at professional pay.
Perma-Temps/The Casualization of Academic labor
The University of California, like all too many institutions of
higher education today, employs non-Senate faculty as temporary,
expendable employees. We must constantly reapply for our jobs, hope
that our courses won't be mysteriously eliminated or given to other
teachers, take on additional responsibilities without compensation,
and beg to be reviewed for merit salary increases. Many of us refer
to our working environment as a "culture of accountability"
because so much of the energy that should go into teaching, into
making our worth, is instead spent on proving our worth.
Lack of Access to Customary Academic Conditions and Tools
We are concerned about access to professional development funds,
the opportunity for paid leave for post-6th year faculty, and eligibility
to compete for research grants.
Recent News Coverage:
- Oakland Tribune - 8/30/02, Clerks, Lecturers End Strike at UC
- Los Angeles Times - 8/29/02, Lecturers Join Clerks in UC Berkeley
Strike
- San Francisco Chronicle - 8/28/02, UC Berkeley Classes Canceled
by Lecturers, Teaching Assistants; Unions Honor Strike by Clerical
Workers
- UC -The Daily Californian - 8/23/02, Campus Scrambles As Strike
Nears
- San Jose Mercury News - 8/22/02, Workers Prepare Strikes At
UC
- Los Angeles Times - 8/22/02, Strikes Planned at UC Berkeley
by Clerical Workers, Lecturers
- The Orange County Register - 8/22/02, Seeking Job Security,
UC Lecturers Vote to Strike
- Sacramento Bee - 8/21/02, UC Berkeley Faces Strike by Lecturers
- San Francisco Chronicle - 8/21/02, UC Clerical Workers Plan
to Strike Other Unions May Join In
For useful general background on contingent academic labor issues,
download a copy of "Marching Toward Equity ," or contact
the Office of Public Affairs at the AFT, 202-879-4400.
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