Thursday, October 23, 1997
Many employees disgruntled with uneven raises in pay among
staff
STAFF: Most workers
got smaller raises than faculty, administration
By George Sweeney
Daily Bruin Contributor
A pay raise is generally a cause for celebration, but when
people near you receive a bigger raise, often the only way you can
feel is upset.
UCLA lecturers, librarians and various support staff are not
getting the same pay increases as their fellow employees, and some
are responding negatively.
While the faculty and administration of UCLA were given anywhere
from 5 to 8 percent pay increases, UCLA’s support staff, who are
not members of the Academic Senate, will receive only 2
percent.
Last month, the UC Regents instituted a 2 percent pay increase
for all staff, including professors and administrators. This
increase, called a cost of living adjustment (COLA), compensates
for inflation in the consumer market.
However, additional increases were made to both Academic Senate
faculty pay and to the pay rates of upper level administration.
Academic Senate faculty received 3 percent parity increases in
addition to the COLA, whereas upper level administration, such as
the chancellor and vice chancellor, have been given additional
parity increases ranging from 3 to 7 percent.
Officials say that upper-level administrators received larger
raises to bring them on par with administrators at other
universities, both public and private.
But this extra pay increase has caused concern within groups
that are receiving only a 2 percent boost.
Since 1995, the state budget has set aside an amount for pay
increases, enough for a 4 percent increase for all employees. But
the university only allocated a 2 percent cost of living increase
across the board.
"The people who are making more money are getting more, the
people who are making less are getting less," said Claudia Horning,
vice president of the Coalition of University Employees (CUE).
"They could have given everyone 4 percent and used the other 2
percent for merit increases," Horning continued.
Because the increases are not all equal, some groups say that
they have been left in the cold.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the union that
represents librarians and lecturers, argue that as academics they
should get the same pay increases as the rest of the faculty.
"Historically, until about a year ago, the percentage of
increases given to all academics was the same," said Miki Goral,
president of the UCLA chapter of AFT.
"In 1996, the university decided to separate the Faculty Senate
from the rest of the university," Goral said.
When that split occurred, members of the AFT were not privy to
the professorial and faculty pay raise.
"(The University) has separated (Academic Senate faculty), and
called what they give them a parity increase," Goral said.
In fact, according to Goral, in order to earn the extra 3
percent parity increase, the members of the AFT had to march on
campus and strike to gain the increase at the bargaining table.
In the same basic predicament as the AFT, the members of the
clerical staffs at UCLA also have been granted a 2 percent
increase.
However, their situation is different. Because their increase is
covered by the union’s collective bargaining agreement, the
university does not give them an additional COLA.
"All people who are covered by collective bargaining agreements
get their pay raises in accordance with those agreements," said
Ruie Arnett, assistant vice chancellor in charge of campus human
resources.
This still does not mean that these staff are happy with the 2
percent increase they bargained for.
"We feel it’s unfair. The clerical staff are the backbone of the
university. Without the clerical staff the university will shut
down," said Bob Battle, business agent for the American Federation
of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
AFSCME has just negotiated a new contract for those who fall
under its protection. This new contract would contain a 2 percent
pay increase, and they would not receive a cost of living
adjustment.
However, this becomes problematic when the issue of union
decertification interferes with the installation of the pay
increases.
AFSCME is facing a vote for recertification. CUE is challenging
AFSCME for the right to represent clerical workers. If CUE wins,
they will renegotiate the contract that AFSCME has already created,
hoping to gain more for those they represent.
"We are not that happy with the new contract. There was no
strategy to get more (money)," Horning said.
While the members of the clerical staff have some flexibility,
in that they are just gaining a new contract, the members of AFT
are not able to gain any more than the 2 percent until next year
when their contract is up.
"The new bargaining agreement comes up in 1998, that may be the
time for changes to be made," Goral said.