| UPTE HX Bargaining Bulletin #11 |
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2006 We submitted the following proposals: § Art. 35 Shift Differential. We made a proposal raising the hourly rate of evening and night shift differentials, and also asking for a weekend differential. We are asking for $6.00/hr for evening shift; $8.00/hr for night shift; and $4.50/hr for weekends. This would be across the board for all job titles at all campuses. If anyone is currently receiving a differential of a greater amount, they would be compensated at the higher amount. We also asked that the on-call rate be 50%/hr of one's base salary. § Art. 36 Sick Leave. We again strongly stated our position that we are not interested in PTO. We proposed new, clarifying language in an effort to solve the problem of people being unreasonably penalized for their use of unscheduled sick leave. We also proposed that bereavement leave may also include other family members and friends. We submitted two side letters. One proposed that Genetic Counselors and Physician Assistants' compensation be upgraded to the same salary range as UC's Nurse Practitioners. The second side letter proposed reclassifying Child Development Associates as Child Life Specialists, if they meet the job series description for those positions. UC submitted: § Art. 13 Lay Offs and Reduction in Time. Their proposal eliminated the option of reduced severance pay for employees who are being laid off. We have rejected that limitation on employee's options. UC has agreed to our previous proposal which allows an employee with more seniority to be retained if they can be retrained in needed job skills within a month's time. § Art. 23 Out Of Classification Assignments. UC turned down our previous proposal of an increased rate of pay for temporary assignments at a higher rate of pay. § Art. 32 Release Time for Bargaining. We had asked for release time for 7 bargainers at future bargaining sessions; one for each of the 5 medical centers, one for all 4 student health centers; and a chief bargainer. We also asked for 5 days of release time to prepare for bargaining, rather than the current 3 days. UC countered our proposal by denying the 7 bargainers, keeping with the current number of 6 bargainers. They agreed to the 5 days of unpaid release time for the bargainers to prepare, which we had asked for previously. We also got stronger language regarding the scheduling of release time for those bargainers on irregular shifts. They submitted a Side Letter on PTO. UC proposed that PTO continue at UCLA, where it has been in force for some time; but that it not be introduced at any of the other campuses. We had previously proposed that no PTO be instated at any campus. And, that those few members at UCLA who have PTO and would like to continue, may do so for the rest of their employment at UCLA. UC also submitted a side letter requesting that the Pharmacist's at UC Irvine be given a shift differential increase to $8.00/hr. We responded that we would only agree to an $8.00/hr increase for all Pharmacists' throughout UC. It has been very encouraging to the bargaining team to hear reports of the rallies and informational pickets that have occurred on several campuses while we were bargaining. And, there is no doubt, UC was also very aware of these actions. We hope as the bargaining heats up, that actions like these continue and build. We also would like to encourage you to write the California Senate and Assembly members who are on the Sub Committee for Higher Education. We have included a sample letter for you, below, along with e-mail, phone and regular mail contact information for each member. Let them know you are insulted by the on-average 2% compensation proposed by UC; that you are concerned about raising healthcare costs; and that you feel it is premature and unnecessary to move money from our DCP fund to the UCRP in July, 2007. We will bargain next week, October 16 to 18 at the Communications Workers of American offices in Santa Fe Springs. We next bargain at UCSF on November 6-9. As always, please contact your bargaining team member with your concerns, questions, or if you would like to attend a session, etc. Bob Dawson, UCB Wendi Felson, UCSF Sheila Stittiams, UCSD Cindy Yuge, UCLA Sue Mc Cormick, UCD Larry Freed, UCI _________________________________________________________________ October 12, 2006 Dear Honorable _______________________, I am writing as a Healthcare (HX) Employ of the University of California . I am very concerned about whether the University of California is acting responsibly and being accountable to the citizens of the State of California . We at UPTE (University Professional and Technical Employees) do not believe they are and here is why. Over the past several years the San Francisco Chronicle has published a number of articles disclosing that UC has ignored its own policies on special compensation, recruitment, and separation packages for many of their top executives. The UC is demanding that employees start contributing to a University of California Retirement Plan . The independent actuarial firm Venuti and Associates has refuted UC's arguments mandating the need for employee contributions to the UCRP (UC Retirement Plan) starting July of 2007. UC assumes that inflation will be 4% when it has been 2.51% for the past decade. UC additionally, assumes that return on investments will be 7.5% when it has been 12.3% over the past decade. To read the entire report, please refer to www.upte.org/VenutiReport .pdf . Since 1990 UC has contributed 0% to the UCRP, yet now claim that employees must begin contributing as early as the summer of 2007. There is also the possibility that employees may eventually have to contribute as much as 8% of their wages over the next few years. According to UC, the retirement plan is currently funded at around 110% and projected to remain above 100% through at least 2009. UC is projecting assumed salary increases of 4.9% to 6.5%. Unfortunately, this has happened only once in the past 15 years while the average UC employee's wages (excluding executives and top managers) have remained far below market rate by 10% to 50%. UC has openly admitted that staff salaries have not kept pace with inflation or market rate over the past 15 years. As Healthcare Employees we are also concerned about UC's plans to drastically increase our insurance premiums. UC's contributions for health care benefits have only increased by 8.1%; however, they plan to increase our contributions by an average of 56%. Even more concerning, is the fact that lower paid employees' co-pays are being increased almost twice as fast (up to164%) compared to (70%) for executives making over $120,000. Even though the University of California has received 1% above the “compact funding” from the State, they have chosen not to put this into employee salaries. As a result of the aforementioned, UC may soon be creating a transient and temporary work force. We, the UPTE Healthcare Employees, question whether UC can continue to remain a premiere, world class research and teaching facility if benefits and salaries continue to be below comparable market rates. This must be corrected so that UC can attract and retain its dedicated and highly trained professionals. Given today's competitive job market, and the fact that other local medical centers throughout the state are offering higher salaries, it is imperative that UC strongly consider re-evaluating their current plans for benefit and pension changes. Sincerely, ______________________________ Name ______________________________ Job title, UPTE Healthcare employee California State Senate Higher Education Sub Committee members: E-mail: Senator Jack Scott, Chair senator.scott@sen.ca.gov Senator Jackie Speier senator.speier@sen.ca.gov Senator Jeff Denham senator.denham@sen.ca.gov Senator Alan Lowenthal senator.lowenthal@sen.ca.gov Senator Abel Maldonado senator.maldonado@sen.ca.gov Senator Gloria Romero senator.romero@sen.ca.gov Write: Senator Capitol Building , Room 2083 Sacramento , CA 95814 Call: 916-651-4105 California Congressional Committee on Higher Education: E-mail: Assemblymember Carol Liu, Chair assemblymember.liu@assembly.ca.gov Write: Call: 916-319-3960 |