August is almost over, and students are back at Berkeley, Merced, and San Francisco. This month has been packed to the gills with bargaining dates! Today your table team met with the University one more time to close out the month, and it was a long and productive day! Read on below for the updates, and mark your calendars for the next bargaining session on September 9 on Zoom.
UC-AFT Proposals
Article 29 – Waiver
We started the morning by passing our counter proposal to Article 29 – Waiver. As we’ve noted throughout our bargaining, our contract and the Academic Personnel Manual (APM) intersect in a number of articles, and we want a clear understanding of how to proceed when APM revisions are suggested. Our proposal affirmed LAUC’s role as a consultative body for the University to engage on matters of professional governance for librarians, while also retaining UC-AFT’s ability to negotiate on areas in our contract. Our counter built upon the framework the University proposed last week, and we aimed to clarify the process for how UC-AFT and the University meet and confer on proposed policy changes or revisions to the APM.
Late in the afternoon, the University passed another counter on the waiver article. The University attempted to incorporate elements of our proposed process for UC-AFT to provide input earlier in the timeframe regarding proposed APM changes. But a major sticking point remains: the University continues to assert their managerial right to finalize policy changes, including APM revisions. The only recourse available to UC-AFT is to bargain the effects. This is problematic for changes to the APM because when revisions are distributed for Systemwide Review, they are largely finalized, meaning the chance for substantive input has passed. It is especially concerning based on recent practices where the Management Consultation step of APM revisions affecting librarians did not engage LAUC or UC-AFT in the process.
Article 4 – Definition, Criteria, Terms of Service for Appointment, Merit Increase, Promotion and Career Status
We thought good progress had been made when the University acceded to our proposal that the definition of the librarian series should align with the current APM 360-4, and the remaining sticking point was over the University’s demand that we agree to accept—sight unseen—revisions to the definition that are currently being pursued without any consultation with UC-AFT (or even LAUC). Our proposal on Tuesday addressed that issue head-on, but the University returned in the late afternoon session with a counterproposal reasserting the demand, alongside their counter on Article 29 (Waiver).
Article XX – Academic Freedom
We reasserted our proposal for the academic freedom provision to incorporate language drawn directly from APM-011 in our contract. We continue to reject the University’s proposal that we simply incorporate academic freedom by reference to the APM, since that would mean accepting (without any prior consultation, input, or negotiation) any future changes that may be imposed via the University’s academic policy revision process. As evident with the University’s approach on the definition of librarians, that process presently involves few meaningful opportunities for consultation and input by impacted academic appointees. The University, returning to counter late in the day, simply re-passed their previous proposal that merely refers to the APM and thus, under their present proposal for Article 29, would enable the University to unilaterally change the nature of the academic freedom rights and obligations of librarians.
Article 32 – Flexible Work Arrangements
In the afternoon, UC-AFT passed our sixth counter proposal on flexible work arrangements. We proposed a 30-day, default timeline for the University to respond to requests for flexible work arrangements. And UC-AFT clarified that the procedures and timelines for requesting flexible work arrangements or for working out modifications to agreements should be grievable and arbitrable.
University Proposals
Article 3 – Professional Activities and Development
The University passed a sole economic counter: Article 3 – Professional Activities and Development.
Recall that UC-AFT’s most recent proposal stated that each U17 librarian should be alloted a minimum of $3,000/year in professional development funding. We reinforced that librarians must be eligible to submit grant or research proposals designating themselves as Principal Investigator (PI) without the need for requesting exceptions under campus contract and grant policies.
The University’s new counter adopts UC-AFT’s proposed structural, per-librarian approach for professional development funding instead of the current inequitable and confusing per-campus allocation. But there’s still much to be desired in terms of amount: the University proposed a $1,000/year per capita minimum for professional development for each year of the contract.
Regarding PI status, the University proposed to create a Joint Labor Management Committee. to convene once a year in order to discuss problems related to the status quo PI status for UC-AFT librarians. This aspect of the University’s counter distracts from our commonsense demand that librarians, as academic appointees, should be eligible to submit grant proposals as PIs, to be reviewed by the appropriate campus office that evaluates such proposals. Librarians would be afforded the same opportunities—and would be held to the same conditions—as certain classes of graduate students, visiting scholars, and other similar UC academic employees who already enjoy eligibility for PI status without needing exceptions.
Tentative Agreement: Article 2 – Prohibitions on Workplace Discrimination, Harassment, Abusive Conduct, and Retaliation
UC-AFT and the University have reached a tentative agreement on the nondiscrimination article. This means that both parties have mutually agreed on contract language for this particular article, so essentially this piece of our negotiations is finished. When all of the articles are complete, the UC-AFT members will vote whether to ratify the entire contract (hence the “tentative” status). Only after a ratification will a new contract enter into effect.
Upcoming Bargaining: September 9 on Zoom
Today the University stated at the table they aim to present counters on salary, benefits, vacation, and holidays articles at the September 9 session. Watch out for the next Zoom RSVP and join us there! This session will be hosted by the University so UC-AFT will have a community room for our caucusing which you can register for now.
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