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Claudette Begin
This has been rescheduled to this Wed at noon, Room 150. See attached flyer. ...

Sep 8 (2 days ago)
Barbara Goto
to David

show details 9:52 AM (55 minutes ago) [GoingGreenSeries_alttransport_9-08.fnl.ppt]

Reply

Read and hear the story of AFSCME workers facing poverty, even though they are employed at UC, while administrators draw a hefty salary.
Facing Poverty at UC

If That Ain’t Class Warfare, What is It?
from: Counterpunch

By DAVID MACARAY

The recent 5-day tactical strike called by AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) against the University of California is yet another example of the difficult road facing organized labor, particularly those unions who represent low-end or unskilled workers.

Before resorting to their symbolic walkout, (which began on July 14 and ended one minute after midnight, on July 19), the 8,500 members of AFSCME’s Local 3299 had given their UC bosses ample opportunity to settle. In fact, the local had been working without a contract for almost a year. According to Local 3299 president LaKesha Harrison, although negotiations had continued, sporadically, for several months, little progress had been made.

It should be noted that AFSCME isn’t one of your traditional, fiery-eyed, militant labor unions (such as the ILWU or Hoffa’s Teamsters). This membership clearly wasn’t looking to strike. Indeed, the decision to hit the bricks had been postponed for months and was made, finally, out of a sense of desperation, when negotiations between the parties appeared hopelessly deadlocked. read the full article

Debra Harrington
Director of Labor Relations
University of California
2150 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 750
Berkeley, CA 94720-3540

re: Coalition of University Employees Opposition to Career Compass

Dear Ms. Harrington,
Notwithstanding the fact that an analysis and revamping of the job classification system at the University of California is greatly needed and long over due, the Coalition of University Employees (CUE) is opposed to Career Compass in its current form.

Your website describes an altruistic philosophy for Career Compass:
"The Career Compass approach represents a commitment to consistent treatment of all staff as well as to transparency in policy and process, and recognition of the roles that all campus community members have in the health of the workplace."

However, based on our discussions with human resource staff regarding several clerical titles, and after reviewing information we have received from the University, and after seeing how the program is being implemented in some Berkeley campus locations, numerous aspects of the program remain unclear to us and therefore troubling.

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
from: sfgate.com

(08-12) 18:05 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- University of California employees who were punished for reporting wrongdoing could sue for damages under legislation proposed Tuesday by a Bay Area lawmaker.
More Bay Area News

"UC executives should not be judge and jury on whether or not they are liable for monetary claims," said state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, in introducing his bill, SB1199, which would overturn a recent state Supreme Court decision.

START Program Update

CUE and UC reached agreement on CX unit (Clerical and Allied Services-- employees represented by CUE) participation in the START Program on July 28, 2008. The earliest possible date for CX employees to begin their START contract is August 1, 2008. The START contract with clarifications of certain program features and PRO AND CON statements are posted at the CUE web site at: http://www.cueunion.org/bargaining/start08/start08-Info.php.

All CX employees interested in the program should download and print out the contract then forward the completed contract to her/his department HR representative to enroll in the START Program. Please be advised participation in this program is contingent upon department approval of the START program.

CUE Bargaining Team and CUE Statewide Executive Board

Bargaining Report #6
July 8-9, 2008 - Oakland, CA ­ UC Office of the President.

The CUE bargaining team met and conferred with UC representatives on July 8-9 in Oakland at the Office of the President. The CUE team submitted requests for information regarding UC financial data, retirement and benefits data, and UC parking and transportation data.

Significant time during the two-day bargaining sessions dealt with the guidelines, provisions, and contract language for the START program. At the July 8th session, the CUE team offered a side letter proposal to UC which reflected our interests in getting the best possible situation for the CUE jurisdiction and also a proposal for changes to the START contract language.

On the morning of July 9th a subcommittee of both CUE and UC representatives met to develop START contract language that could be agreed upon to eliminate any ambiguities in the contract language.

Failure of Contract Negotiations Forced AFSCME Local 3299 to Protest Last Week
from: The Daily Cal
By Hank Chapot

Sunday, July 20, 2008 | 9:00 pm
Category: Opinion > Op-Eds

Employees of the University of California picketed at all ten campuses and several of the five medical centers from June 14 to 18 as another step in our struggle to end near-poverty wages for workers who feed, clean and maintain the campuses. UC executives have dragged its unions through negotiations without movement. When my union members voted to strike, UC management, coached by one of the worst union busting law firms in the country, went to court, misled the media and blamed the workers.

The problem for workers represented by AFSCME is the problem of most of the underpaid work force at UC, easily the biggest employer in every host community. While agreeing publicly that we are underpaid, the suits who run UC test the tolerance for poverty of its low paid work force, and for many years these employees took what was offered. But the economic crisis has forced us to throw down the gauntlet; we must have prevailing wages, seniority steps and no more increases in fees for workers and students. read the full article

from: CUE Bargaining Team
START NEWS FLASH
On July 21,2008, The University was notified that:

"The CUE bargaining team continues to have serious concerns about the impact of the START Program on our unit. Our specific concerns include, but are not limited to, the program's impact on workload distribution and seniority calculations, and the wholesale exclusion of medical center employees. The CUE bargaining team cannot endorse the START Program in its current form to the CX unit. We have advised the CUE statewide executive board that we believe the benefit of the START Program to our jurisdiction is minimal, and that only a very small segment of the CX unit can possibly benefit from participation.

In spite of our reservations, CUE has decided to give its members the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not to participate in the START Program. UC may implement the START Program for the CX unit effective August 1, 2008 on the condition that we can come to agreement on the changes to the START contract proposed in your July 17th email to me. CUE will be sending out a notice to CUE-represented employees informing them of this decision, and providing them with a statement explaining our reservations about the START Program.

See CUE's letter to Peter Chester, UC's Chief Negotiator, giving this notice.

from: NewsCenter | 21 July 2008

BERKELEY — Two entities with an interest in promoting diversity among University of California staff will be conducting public sessions on the topic beginning this week.

The Berkeley Initiative for Leadership on Diversity (BILD), which assesses and funds proposals for projects designed to foster diversity among campus staff, has issued a call for project pre-proposals for the 2009 session. The pre-proposal applications are available online on the BILD website or by emailing bildapps@lists.berkeley.edu. They are also available for pickup in 281 Evans Hall.

In its first year in operation, BILD was able to fund ten projects ranging from a "talent and role-sharing" initiative in the School of Public Health to an effort to build diversity at every level in the campus's 29 libraries. (For summary of all ten programs, see the Berkeleyan coverage of BILD.) This year, the BILD steering committee welcomes proposals for new programs as well as requests for continued funding for projects from the 2008 year. read the full article