E-Bulletin for University of California Administrative Professionals: March, 2009
Unions Make a Difference
AFSCME workers at the University of California recently settled contract bargaining with UC, winning substantial wages increases and other benefits. They have achieved a five-year contract with 3% raises on October of each year, an additional 1% July, 2009 and 2% step increases for the last three years. The first three years of raises are independent of the state budget. The final two years will include negotiations over pensions, as well as ensuring the last two raises. The university will be able to shift service workers’ 2% retirement savings (DCP fund) into the UCRP pension fund in 2010. A cap was set on how much health benefits could increase. There are several other important achievements, including overtime after working a normal shift, more training time, and an increase in the minimum wage to $14 per hour in 2012.

UPTE’s research and technical units are currently in contract negotiations and will continue to pressure the university to give us similar terms and conditions that they gave to AFSCME workers. With this settlement, UC shows they have money to provide wage increases beyond the 0% they gave to unrepresented workers. Until administrative professionals at UC organize, we will not have the right to sit down with management and negotiate for pay increases. Fill out a commitment card today and indicate your support for a union for administrative professionals at UC.

Working together Works
On January 24th, administrative professional activists from around the state met in Berkeley to plan how to move our organizing campaign forward. We spent the day discussing issues that affect us at work, such as work load, layoffs and job security, lack of pay increases, and low morale. We also came up with a plan to reach out and talk to as many of our co-workers as possible about the benefits of organizing a union, particularly in light of the current economic crisis. For more information, or to get involved, please email ap@upte-cwa.org

Make your voice heard
Many of us are working for collective bargaining rights with UPTE-CWA, the union for professional employees, which already represents 10,000 UC employees systemwide. Filling out this commitment card indicates your support for a union drive in the administrative professional unit in the near future. In such a campaign, if a majority of us support the union, UC will have to sit down and negotiate over issues like pay increases, health care premiums, and pension contributions.

Join UPTE Today to Build a Union for Administrative Professionals
As members of UPTE that do not yet have a union contract, we can advocate for our interests from our pay and benefits to workload challenges.  Hundreds of staff professionals have signed up as members of  UPTE. By joining UPTE, we not only support the effort to win union representation for Administrative Professionals, but it also supports the already organized UPTE units in their effort to win a contract with fair wages, secure benefits, and a voice on the job. Dues are $22 per month and are paid through payroll deduction. To download a membership application, click here.

For more information, or to get involved, please email ap@upte-cwa.org.

This bulletin provides a resource for workplace issues affecting UC’s staff professionals and ways we can work together to solve them. It also keeps us updated on administrative professionals’ organizing efforts with the University Professional and Technical Employees union (UPTE).

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UPTE-CWA 9119  |  P.O. Box 4443, Berkeley, CA 94704 | 510.704.8783  |  info@upte-cwa.org