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UPTE Wins Landmark Pact for 9,000
CWA-represented technical and research workers at the University of California have overwhelmingly ratified a strong two-year contract that improves job security, wages and union rights.
The contract covers nearly 9,000 members of University Professional & Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119 who work at 10 UC campuses, five medical centers and one national laboratory.
Local 9119 President Jelger Kalmijn called it a "major victory," especially given the state's fiscal problems. "Given the economic hard times, we were able to make landmark breakthroughs in our contract," he said.
Significantly, more than 4,000 workers who had been subject to a badly broken merit-based pay system have been moved to a step system that will improve their wages and help the university be more competitive, Kalmijn said.
He said the stagnant pay system has led to a 30-percent annual turnover rate, costing the university many top quality researchers working on such critical projects as cures for cancer and AIDS.
In the event of layoffs, the union won the right for employees to get both severance payments and preferential placement on a rehire list. In the past, the university reserved the right to decide if employees got severance. If they did, they had to forfeit their rehire rights.
The union also put an end to UC's practice of using temporary employees for 18 months at a time with no job security, no raises and minimal benefits. Now, employees who work more than 1,000 hours in 12 months get career status. "It closes a major loophole that the university had been trying to widen," Kalmijn said.
District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler praised the union for its hard work. "This would be a very good contract at any time," he said. "In a tough economy, it's an outstanding contract."
CWA Vice President Brooks Sunkett said UPTE's efforts and solidarity away from the bargaining table-which included rallies, lobbying and advertising-was as important to the process as the talks themselves. "UPTE did an excellent job of using all its resources to bring pressure to bear on the university," he said.
The contract covers nearly 9,000 members of University Professional & Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119 who work at 10 UC campuses, five medical centers and one national laboratory.
Local 9119 President Jelger Kalmijn called it a "major victory," especially given the state's fiscal problems. "Given the economic hard times, we were able to make landmark breakthroughs in our contract," he said.
Significantly, more than 4,000 workers who had been subject to a badly broken merit-based pay system have been moved to a step system that will improve their wages and help the university be more competitive, Kalmijn said.
He said the stagnant pay system has led to a 30-percent annual turnover rate, costing the university many top quality researchers working on such critical projects as cures for cancer and AIDS.
In the event of layoffs, the union won the right for employees to get both severance payments and preferential placement on a rehire list. In the past, the university reserved the right to decide if employees got severance. If they did, they had to forfeit their rehire rights.
The union also put an end to UC's practice of using temporary employees for 18 months at a time with no job security, no raises and minimal benefits. Now, employees who work more than 1,000 hours in 12 months get career status. "It closes a major loophole that the university had been trying to widen," Kalmijn said.
District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler praised the union for its hard work. "This would be a very good contract at any time," he said. "In a tough economy, it's an outstanding contract."
CWA Vice President Brooks Sunkett said UPTE's efforts and solidarity away from the bargaining table-which included rallies, lobbying and advertising-was as important to the process as the talks themselves. "UPTE did an excellent job of using all its resources to bring pressure to bear on the university," he said.