This update (and bargaining session) is sooner than we expected, since our earlier agreed-upon date of June 27 had to be moved up a week to accommodate the University’s court hearing next week related to the UAW 4811 strike action. Our U17 librarians came back to the table today for another round of contract bargaining despite all the labor unrest. UC-AFT presented counters for Article 5 – Personnel Review Action Procedure and Article 12 – Payroll (formerly Dues) Deductions. The University offered counter proposals on Article 25 – Arbitration and Article 4 – Definition.
We are disappointed that the University, once again, failed to present a counter proposal on salary, but hope to see their economic counters at the next bargaining session on July 29. It’s been almost 4 months since UC-AFT made our counter proposal on Article 13 – Salary, and more than 5 months since our proposal on Article 3 – Professional Activities and Development.
We also expect our July bargaining session will have a lot of discussion about what it means to be an academic librarian, and why our status as academic appointees is necessary for UC libraries to fulfill the teaching and research mission of the University.
UC-AFT Proposals
Article 5 – Personnel Review Action Procedure
Our counter proposal offers some simplified language to a final area of contention in Article 5. Where there is a disagreement between the University’s deciding officer and the peer review committee in cases of promotion, conferral of career status, or termination, the University will notify the committee, who will be provided the opportunity for further comment before the final decision is made. We feel this succinctly captures the nuance of these rare situations, and will help clarify the review process in those instances.
Article 12 – Payroll (formerly Dues) Deductions
Our proposal attempts to streamline the process for dues deductions to better align with current (and working) practice. We provided language to clarify the timeframe for the union’s responsibility to alert the University about errors, as well as the University’s obligation to make corrections before the next month’s payroll cycle.
University Proposals
Article 4 – Definition, Criteria, Terms of Service for Appointment, Merit Increase, Promotion and Career Status
At last week’s bargaining session, both the University and the union passed proposals for Article 4 across the virtual table. We reiterated our insistence on inserting the current definition of librarian work, as outlined in Academic Personnel Manual (APM), specifically APM 360-4. In their counter proposal today, the University moved to further align the contract language with the contemporary APM 360-4 definition. However, a significant change they proposed suggests that our MOU would automatically incorporate revisions to the APM 360-4 should it be updated during the term of our contract. We continue to assert that any newly proposed APM language must follow the same review process, with the same crucial stakeholders, at which time we can discuss the potential incorporation of any updated language into our contract.
Article 25 – Arbitration
The University presented a counter proposal on Article 25. We are encouraged by our progress toward mutually acceptable language, and will review their proposal to ensure it meets our needs regarding timely communications about arbitrability issues and timely action on arbitrator selection and scheduling.
Upcoming Bargaining: July 29
Our next bargaining date is set for July 29.
If you are going to ALA in San Diego next week, wear your UC-AFT shirts or buttons at the conference. Let your colleagues know what we’re fighting for—such as our academic status. Enjoy the conference!
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
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