The Coalition for University Employees has not responded yet to
what the University of California called its final offer in regards
to 2003 labor contracts. Negotiations between the two parties have
been ongoing since July 2003.
The UC expected the union to respond to its offer on Tuesday,
but Noel Van Nyhuis, a spokesman with the UC Office of the
President, confirmed that their office had yet to hear back from
the union as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The UC made its offer public last Thursday.
CUE represents the UC’s 18,000 clerical employees that
work on the university’s nine campuses and their respective
medical centers and libraries as administrative assistants and
clerks.
A UC statement released on Monday stated that the UC’s
offer includes a 10 percent salary increase for police dispatchers
at UC Irvine and a 2 percent increase for clerical employees at UC
San Diego working for the nutrition services department.
But union representatives say the offer is not nearly enough as
it only affects a very small portion of the total number of
employees that work under the union.
Bert Thomas, CUE’s UCLA bargaining representative, said he
believes the UC is trying to test the union’s power, and the
current situation is leaving the union with no option but to strike
in order to make its stance and its demands clear.
Though Thomas is not directly involved with this specific offer,
he is one of the bargaining representatives present at the current
negotiations to settle contracts.
In the past, the UC has cited budget cuts as the reason why it
cannot grant unions more of what they are asking for and has said
that “an agreement requires compromise and good faith from
both sides.”
But Thomas described it as “just pitiful” that the
UC has been spending money on executive positions while saying that
the university does not have money to spend on union workers.