A labor dispute between the Coalition of Union Employees and the
University of California could end as soon as today. The UC
submitted a final offer to the union on March 3, though as of late
Monday it had yet to accept or decline the offer.
The union is expected to make its decision by the end of
today.
The coalition represents the UC’s 18,000 clerical workers,
most of whom work on the nine UC campuses and in the medical
centers as administrative assistants and clerks.
According to a UC statement released Monday, the UC’s
final offer includes a 10 percent salary raise for police
dispatchers at UC Irvine and a 2 percent increase for clerical
employees at UC San Diego working for the nutrition services
department.
There are no specific wage increases proposed for UCLA
employees.
If accepted by the union, the increases will go into effect
immediately.
The bargaining between the UC and the union has been ongoing
since July 2003.
Noel Van Nyhuis, a spokesman with the UC Office of the
President, said this offer marks the end of the negotiations for
the 2003 contracts.
If declined by the union, one of two things could happen: The
union could vote to strike, or the UC could impose the contract on
the workers.
Though the offer could mark the end of these negotiations with
the union, the contract negotiations for the current year are still
on the table and the union has not been alone in its fight for
contract settlements.
Other unions, including the United Automobile Workers, which
represents teaching assistants and readers at UCLA, and the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which
represents the service workers, have also been in negotiations with
the UC.
Representatives from the UC have repeatedly cited the
state’s current budget situation as the reason why
across-the-board wage increases cannot be granted.
Wages for a wide spectrum of UC employees, including workers
represented by the Coalition of Union Employees, have not been
increased for the past two years, and a UC press release states
that salaries for many employee groups within the UC system are
lagging behind the market.
UC officials said they hope to reverse this trend with budgetary
help from the compact agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
which stipulates the state must increase funding to the university
for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, UC press releases have stated that the system will
continue to try to compensate for the lack of wage increases with
benefit packages that include better deals on health care and
retirement.
Coalition representatives were not available for comment Monday,
but they have previously made their stance clear on the issues
facing their and other UC union workers.
In a Feb. 24 rally at UCLA, Hueteol Lopez, a coalition organizer
and field representative, said the UC has been unwilling to come to
a fair agreement with the workers.