Bargaining Update #7: Our stories continue to fall on deaf ears, as patients, students, and research suffer
UPTE's bargaining team was back at the table with the University of California last week at UC Santa Barbara. UC continues to reject UPTE's proposals regarding pay, reclassification, work-life balance, staffing, and job security.
When questioned, management's bargaining team has offered little or no explanation for rejecting proposals - even those that would cost the University little to nothing, such as improved rights to vacant positions or additional unpaid leave.
Fortunately, we know that UC has the resources to correct all of these issues. Our strikes in 2018/2019 and those by UAW academic workers in 2022 show that UC can be convinced to make the changes that we deserve. Join thousands of your colleagues and sign a strike commitment card today at upte.org/strike.
| UPTE's Proposals | UC's Proposals |
|---|---|
| -Increased UPTE representative employer-paid release time -Remove arbitrary limits on union-paid release time |
-No additional parental leave (which UC provides to nurses) -5 days of unpaid reproductive loss leave (required by state law) |
Additional release time for UPTE representatives has been crucial to our success in addressing these issues and countless more over the past 2 years as we prepared for this contract fight. You only need to glance at upte.org/news to see some of the great work being done by UPTE unit and workplace reps as a result of this release time.
UCSB members also delivered powerful testimony to UC during these negotiations about the importance of long-term research, technical, and healthcare staff to student safety. Too many of our colleagues who are committed to our students and the incredible research we make possible at UC end up being forced to leave if we want to be able to start families and/or buy homes. This quite literally puts student and staff lives, as well as world-changing research, at risk.
Social Workers, Behavioral Health Counselors, and Psychologists, including Dr. Lily Clark, spoke about the importance of being there for students and staff in their moments of greatest need and the devastating consequences of short staffing.
"College counseling today isn't about choosing a career or adjusting to being away from home. It's about keeping students alive and helping them get an education for a better future. It makes me wonder what UC is prioritizing if not student wellbeing and education," said Dr. Lily Clark, a Counseling Psychologist at UCSB CAPS.
Ross Derer, a Principal Electronics Technician emphasized that his colleagues are responsible for maintaining increasingly complex fire alarm and suppression systems, returning to dormitories at all hours of the day to keep students safe.
"If a call comes in that affects a student's dorm room or even an entire building, the best case scenario is that it's an inconvenience. But the fact of the matter is far too often a critical piece of hardware fails leaving large areas unprotected in instances of a fire," said Ross, who has been at UCSB for eight years.
"Having an unqualified person work on life safety equipment is an unacceptable gamble with our students' safety. I constantly feel anxiety and an immense amount of pressure for this reason.
Cricket Wood, a 24-year Staff Research Associate 4 reminded UC that they are often the only career employees in labs with hazardous and valuable materials that short-term academic employees will not be as familiar with, leading to safer labs and cost savings.
"I manage huge, invaluable resources and all of the students and persons that are here short-term. And so I have to provide the consistency and organization to prevent waste. Part of the struggle is that there's so much turnover in our lab staff, and I provide the institutional memory," said Cricket, who works on aging and basic cell health and development.
"I want UC to step up and put some of the money that they take from our research grants back into our research staff, supporting us and keeping good research continuing."
Our next bargaining sessions are scheduled for October 3 - 4* in San Diego and 16 - 17 in Santa Cruz. Contact your UPTE Organizer to learn more.
*We have contacted the University regarding the omission of October 3-4 from their communications about upcoming bargaining but have yet to receive a response. We hope that they still intend to bargain on these dates, as we will be just weeks from both contracts being expired.