Bargaining Report #27 edit

Furlough Plan Main Bargaining Issue

• Salary Reduction/Furlough Plan and proposed holiday curtailments (campus closures). CUE had numerous questions regarding plan implementation and proposed curtailment days. The FAQs pages on the UCOP web site are incomplete and misleading.

• START participants. CUE strongly disagrees with the University's position regarding CUE-represented staff currently on Staff and Academic Reduction in Time (START). The University plan requires those employees to use vacation, compensatory time off (CTO) or leave-without-pay during the campus closure periods. This would constitute a double hit for employees taking voluntary salary reductions without the benefit of paid furlough days offered to unrepresented employees.

• CUE's Counter-Offer Rejected. The CUE team proposed a plan of salary savings, which the University rejected. CUE's proposal, in exchange for guarantees of no layoffs for CX bargaining unit employees, included deferring 2008-09 salary increases to 2011-12. This salary deferral would have saved the University approximately $19.5 million per year and would not have necessitated a salary reduction for CX bargaining unit employees.
  Salaries for 2008-09 would remain flat and CUE would continue to negotiate salary increases for 2009-10. The CUE proposal also called for UC to withdraw funds from the University's unrestricted net assets to offset any additional projected budget shortfall.

• CUE continuing to seek alternatives to furloughs. Despite the inability to reach agreement with the University, the CUE team continues to brainstorm ideas to achieve the $13,000,000 in savings UC is requiring from the CX bargaining unit. On Thursday, members of the team met in a sidebar with Lynn Boland (Executive Director HR), Shelly Nielsen (Interim Sr. Director Employee Relations), and Peter Chester (UC chief negotiator) to discuss different plans as supposals [potential scenarios] and to learn if the CUE alternatives would be seriously considered by UC.

• No guarantees. CUE is trying to get guarantees regarding the University plan and its effects. We have been unable to get any agreement on halting temporary layoffs during the life of the plan. It is clear that even if we can get an agreement of no layoffs in exchange for the salary reduction/furlough plan, UC can and will find other ways to lay off employees.

• Contract-change proposals. CUE developed and submitted proposals to UC seeking to improve the provisions and language in the Health and Safety (Article 8) and Layoff (Article 13) contract sections.

• Q&A with UC's Peter Taylor. On Friday, the CUE team questioned the VP of Financial Management Services, Peter Taylor, who insists the University is experiencing a cash-flow problem. Mr. Taylor also stated that, although they are in regular contact with their creditors, the University has not noticed them of any financial emergency or potential inability to meet its debt obligations.

• The $200 Million Loan. Peter Taylor played a critical role in securing the loan which allowed the University, in turn, to loan the State of California $200 million. It is implausible that a business in the thralls of a financial emergency has the ability to borrow $200 million to loan to the state, which has a legitimate financial crisis and sinking credit rating.

• Threat of Layoffs.The University has indicated it is prepared to issue temporary layoff notices to CX bargaining unit employees, since no agreement has been reached before the September 1, 2009 start date for the Salary Reduction/Furlough Program for unrepresented employees. CUE maintains that the University is refusing to bargain.
  

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  If you receive a Layoff Notice,
  please click here
  for important instructions.

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Future Sessions. The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for
September 10-11 at the Office of the President, and
September 17-18 at UCSD.
We encourage bargaining unit members to attend.

 
The CUE Bargaining team thank the members from the Berkeley campus, UCOP, and UCSF who came to observe the negotiations. Your support is greatly appreciated: Ute Rupp, Michelle Good, Elena Zaslavsky and Linda Morgan from Berkeley; Loys Everett from UCOP; and Mary Gayle Thompson from UCSF.

CUE Bargaining Team: Dan Lewis, UCD Helen Jefferson, LBNL Susan Ervin, UCLA Mary Higgins, UCSF Dorthea Stewart, UCSD Dianna Sahhar, UCI Stephanie Dorton, UCB Gail Moore, UCR Jill Monthei, UCSB Amatullah Alaji-Sabrie, Chief Negotiator, UCB Jason Rabinowitz, CUE attorney