It took them three years, but lecturers across the University of
California system finally sealed a tentative contract, gaining
better job security and base salary raises.
The American Federation of Teachers, the union for the 1,600 UC
lecturers, reached a provisional agreement Thursday morning for a
new labor contract which would be effective through June 2006.
“We believe this is a fair and balanced agreement,
especially in light of the significant state funding constraints
we’re experiencing,” Judith Boyette, the UC associate
vice president for human resources and benefits, said in a
statement.
Negotiations began in spring of 2000 after the lecturers’
previous contract expired.
Also on Thursday, the University Professional and Technical
Employees union came to a tentative agreement with the UC after a
year at the bargaining table.
Now, both the UC and the unions will “formalize the
tentative agreements with their respective organizations”
before the contracts are approved.
Under the new AFT contract, lecturers who have been with a
university for more than six years and are in good standing will
not be let go unless financial issues or poor teaching merit their
dismissal.
Previously, these six-year lecturers went up for review every
three years and could be dismissed for other reasons.
“We don’t do the glorious research some
(administrators) want, but the idea is to give students a good
education, and we really care a lot about the quality of
teaching,” said Kevin Roddy, president of University
Council-AFT, the union governing body for the eight UC campuses
with undergraduate curriculum.
The other major change dramatically increased the salary
minimums for incoming lecturers.
The old contract dictated a base salary of $27,000 per year for
new lecturers. Now, starting in the fall, lecturers will start at
$34,000 per year. This base will gradually increase to a peak of
$37,000 per year in 2005.
“We believe we’re offering lecturers unmatched
compensation,” said UC press aide Paul Schwartz.
“It’s a lot better than the old contract,”
Roddy said.
Among these benefits, the contract also mentions improved
benefits for part-time lecturers, additional prohibitions against
strikes, and a commitment to review workload issues in certain
programs, according to a UC statement.
Roddy said though he is “very happy” with the new
contract, there are still proposed changes he wished could have
been addressed.
The new contract did not grant lecturers private investigation,
or the right to pursue their own research grants without oversight
by Academic Senate members.
Roddy said there is no reason for the current restrictions, as
the university only stands to gain money from grants ““ 45
percent of research grants go directly to the university.
In addition, conditions for lecturers who have not been at a
university for six years are similar to the old contract, as they
can still be fired after every academic year until they get past
the six year review.
A more subtle change in the contract states that lecturers can
now seek third-party investigation if they suspect the university
of facilitating a process termed “churning” by the
union.
The term refers to the illegal firing of lecturers just before
they are put up for sixth-year review, and instead hiring
lower-paid replacements.
These new clauses caught the eye of former political science
lecturer Robert Hennig, who was let go earlier this year after six
years at UCLA, a dismissal he said his department attributed to
“financial reasons.”
At that point, Hennig decided not to pursue a six-year review,
which, if successful, would have granted him another three years at
UCLA under the old contract.
He said he has since learned the department is planning to hire
additional lecturers next year. Hennig subsequently filed a
grievance with his department asking for a proper review.
“I cannot heap enough contempt on a policy that denies
working people job security for no other reason than
someone’s own hubris,” he said.
Issues in UPTE’s discussions included options for
severance pay and preferential treatment for being rehired in
addition to continued wage discussions.
UPTE began negotiations about a year ago in spring of 2002, and
its contract will run through September 2004.