Spring is almost over and it feels like Summer is just around the corner. This week graduations are taking place across the Berkeley, Merced, and San Francisco campuses. Midterms are in full swing at Davis, Irvine, UCLA, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. And yesterday we had our 11th contract bargaining session with the University. Can you believe it? We know many of you can, since you’ve been joining us in bargaining throughout this whole campaign. Thanks for showing up!
In yesterday’s session, UC-AFT passed counter proposals on Article 15: Tuition/Fee Waiver, Article 17: Management Rights, and Article 18: Temporary Appointees. The University passed counter proposals to Article 8: Layoff, Article 10: UC-AFT Rights, and Article 32: Flexible Work Arrangements, and they returned with promising counters to Article 11: Release Time, Article 15, and Article 17.
Read on below for the full update.
UC-AFT Proposals
Article 15 – Tuition/Fee Waiver
UC-AFT and the University are getting closer to an agreement on the article that addresses reduced fees on enrollment in University classes, as long as the librarian remains a part-time student.
Article 17 – Management Rights
UC-AFT proposed returning to the current contract language in this article. We disagreed with the University’s additions to the article which would have given management more rights in introducing or altering “programs,” which we considered too vague. In our afternoon session, we were pleased that the University proposed to return to current contract language.
Article 18 – Temporary Appointees
We countered Article 18 to insert clarifying language about the release (termination) of temporary appointees before the end of their scheduled appointment period. Previously, the contract had very little to say about release, and we proposed language to require a stated, performance-based reason to release a temporary employee early. (Temporary employees are also covered under the Layoff article in the current contract if budgets or lack of work affects their appointment.) Although the University gave us a counter to the release section right away, it’s clear we’ll need to have more conversations around this issue.
We agreed to the University’s proposed language about managerial discretion to convert a temporary appointment to a potential career status appointment, which may include conducting an off-cycle review to inform this decision. We’re excited about this new language acknowledging a pathway to potential career status for temporary librarians.
University Proposals
Article 8 – Layoff
The University agreed to return to current contract language on the definition of what constitutes a layoff. UC-AFT proposed this at our last bargaining session because the University’s earlier proposal would have expanded the instances in which the University could conduct a layoff. We are now in general agreement that the current contract language is clear that layoffs are separations due to budgetary reasons or lack of work.
Article 10 – UC-AFT Rights
We are fairly close on our proposed improvements to update and align our processes with current practices on payroll, communications, and onboarding of new unit members. We just need to get to agreement on the timeliness of updates from UCPath.
Article 11 – Release Time
We’re happy to report the University has accepted providing the Chief Negotiator with release time for bargaining. As you may recall in the February 8 bargaining update, we made this proposal to ensure that—in addition to each campus having its representative—UC-AFT also has a Chief Negotiator to coordinate and represent the statewide perspective. The University is prepared to enter a Tentative Agreement on this (read more about what this means in the January 19 bargaining update).
Article 32 – Flexible Work Arrangements
The University passed another counter proposal on flexible work arrangements. We were encouraged to see the University agreeing to our proposal that hybrid-location and fully-remote librarians may request ergonomic office equipment they need to complete their work.
We recognize there is still quite a bit of distance between our proposals when it comes to modification of the location of a librarian’s full-time remote work arrangement.
Upcoming Bargaining: May 30 on Zoom
Our next bargaining will take place on May 30 on Zoom. The University will host the session, so we will provide a signup link as soon as we can. Stay tuned for an announcement of summer dates. And remember, you can always reach out to your table team representatives for more details about bargaining..
In solidarity,
The UC-AFT Unit 17 Table Team
Kendra K. Levine, Bay Area, Chief Negotiator
I-Wei Wang, Bay Area
Timothy Vollmer, Bay Area
Jared Campbell, Davis
Mitchell Brown, Irvine
Xaviera Flores, Los Angeles
Miki Goral, Los Angeles
Rachel Green, Los Angeles
Joy Holland, Los Angeles
Jerrold Shiroma, Merced
Carla Arbagey, Riverside
Michael Yonezawa, Riverside
Tori Maches, San Diego
Laurel McPhee, San Diego
Jenny Reiswig, San Diego
Kristen LaBonte, Santa Barbara
Alix Norton, Santa Cruz
Tamara Pilko, Santa Cruz
Jess Waggoner, Santa Cruz