Monday, November 10, 1997
UC clerical workers vote to switch unions
UNIONS: New group is run completely by the employees
themselves
By George Sweeney
Daily Bruin Contributor
The clerical staff of the University of California (UC), more
than 18,000 strong, voted last week to switch to a more activist,
worker-run union.
The UC clerical workers, the largest body of higher-education
employees in America, substituted the Coalition of University
Employees (CUE) for the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Now that it has been certified as the clerical employees’ union,
CUE plans to act on its campaign promises of worker leadership in
bargaining for a new contract with the university.
"Our goal is to continue to keep in touch with all the clerical
employees of the university," said Claudia Horning, vice president
of CUE. "And to keep open the lines of communication. A union
controlled by its members is what we really want to promote."
The elections began on Oct. 6 and ended Wednesday. When the
votes were tallied, the new union had prevailed.
CUE garnered almost 63 percent of the votes that were cast, in
comparison to AFSCME’s 21 percent and a 16 percent vote for no
representation.
The coalition, needing a majority vote, garnered nearly 4,000 of
the 6,600 votes cast.
CUE will represent administrative assistants, child-care
teachers, library assistants and other clerical staff, while AFSCME
will continue to represent the service units (groundskeepers and
custodians) and patient-care-unit employees.
AFSCME, which has been representing UC clerical employees since
1983, challenged the ability of the new union to effectively take
over.
The primary concern that AFSCME organizers stressed was that CUE
would not be able to hold enough sway with the monolithic
university system.
In response, the upstart union claimed that AFSCME did not have
enough contact with its rank-and-file membership.
As a result, the organizers of CUE set about gathering the 5,500
votes needed to force a recertification vote.
A vote was granted, forcing a choice between the two unions.
The clerical employees decided that they did not wish for a
larger, more impersonal union, and have instead opted for one made
up of the clerical workers themselves.
For union organizers, the victory is an unprecedented
accomplishment.
"This is the largest working unit at the university and one of
the largest in the country," said Elinor Levine, president of CUE.
"It is important because of the number of employees, and because we
are a rank-and-file organization made up completely of clerical
workers and those represented."
CUE chiefly wants to maintain their status as a worker-run
organization.
The first immediate goal for CUE is to increase the anemic
amount of clerical employees involved in union politics.
"We are immediately undertaking a membership drive to increase
our numbers to those comparable to the UPTE’s," Horning said.
The new union is striving for 10 percent membership, which would
be comparable to that of the Union of Professional and Technical
Employees.
By increasing their numbers, CUE claims it will be able to show
the university that it is a serious union. Horning called this "the
key to bargaining successfully."
But that is just one of their goals. CUE is currently choosing a
team in order to bargain with the university for a new collective
agreement.
Levine said the goals of the new bargaining agreement would be
overtime, work rules, and benefits changes.
Overall, CUE organizers are optimistic for the future of
clerical employees.
"The people who founded CUE are experienced unionizers," said
Angela Riggio, a voting committee member of CUE.
"I feel totally confident that (CUE) will be able to bargain for
better working conditions and better wages," she continued.