The University of California lecturers’ union is circulating a petition asking UC President Janet Napolitano to negotiate with what they call fair proposals, after working without a contract for more than a month.
The University Council-American Federation of Teachers, or UC-AFT, represents all lecturers and librarians on UC campuses. There were approximately 1,200 lecturers at UCLA in the 2014-2015 academic year.
Mia McIver, president of UCLA’s chapter of UC-AFT and lecturer at UCLA, said the petition aims to educate union members and engage the campus community regarding the issue.
“We want to urge everyone in labor and administration to come to the table, stop delaying tactics and negotiate with us,” McIver said.
McIver said the lecturers’ contract originally expired in June 2015, but the union agreed to extend it to October 2015 while negotiations with the UC continued. The union decided against extending the contract on Dec. 11 to show the UC they wanted them to bargain in good faith, or fairly.
Daniel J. B. Mitchell, a professor emeritus in the Anderson School of Management and former director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, said both sides are required by law to bargain in good faith over wages, hours and conditions, including benefits.
McIver said the union hopes the new contract will bring more job stability to lecturers who are rehired on a quarterly basis, boost access to benefits for part-time lecturers and increase the salary for lecturers. Part-time lecturers do not receive social security benefits under the current contract.
UC spokesperson Kate Moser said the union has been unavailable and unwilling to schedule dates for bargaining. She added a contract can only be settled if both parties are actively meeting.
Members of the UC-AFT said the UC bargaining team has been delaying negotiations. McIver said UC lawyers delayed the scheduled starting time for negotiations and have not prepared their own proposals or reviewed the union’s proposals.
Moser said the parties enter a “status quo” when a contract expires, and no changes can be made without bargaining. New lecturers are hired under the current terms and conditions of employment, she added.
McIver said the UC-AFT is no longer bound by the “no strikes” provision of the contact. Mitchell added the UC can impose a set of terms and conditions and the union is free to strike in response, if negotiations are unsuccessful.
Chris Gray, vice president for organizing of UC-AFT, said the union will begin to consider striking if negotiations do not produce a contract in the near future.
“Before we actually walk out, we want to raise the issues with the public,” Gray said. “The public hasn’t engaged enough with this issue.”
He added the union is using the petition to reach out to supporters in the public and on UC campuses. Members are also contacting local politicians and legislators to ask for their support.
McIver said she hopes the union can resolve the contract dispute without escalating action, such as refusing to submit grades or walking out entirely. She added the union may go through legal channels to organize protests and strikes, if the two parties can’t agree on a contract.
“Only when people organize and fight back do these institutions go back to carrying out their real role in society – to serve the people of California,” Gray said.
The next round of negotiations will begin Jan. 19 in Oakland.