UCLA lab union protest planned

Friday, February 14, 1997

LAYOFFS:

Unfair labor practice filed against university over
restructuring, rehiring rightsBy Hannah Miller

Daily Bruin Contributor

The restructuring trend in healthcare ­ an outgrowth of
corporate downsizing ­ has arrived at UCLA, to an increasingly
stormy reception.

On behalf of approximately 220 employees laid off from UCLA’s
clinical laboratories, the University Professional and Technical
Employees (UPTE) union filed an unfair labor practice charge Feb.
10, and plan to hold a demonstration today.

The charges, filed through the Public Employee Relations Board
(PERB), include changing the seniority policy, failure to provide
information and discuss restructuring, and endangering the rehire
rights of unionized employees.

UPTE is planning an action today at noon in the Medical Center’s
first floor cafeteria (near the vending machines). This coincides
with the deadline for the majority of those laid off to reapply for
their jobs.

UPTE has filed a request for a temporary restraining order,
which would prevent the UC Medical Center from implementing the
layoffs which are scheduled to take effect March 31.

Director of Health Sciences Communications Linda King said that
the university does not know the substance of the charges and
cannot respond yet.

Sally Michael is a CLT laid off since Jan. 31. "I’ve been here
since 1984," she said. "I’m a union activist and they want to get
rid of me."

Michael’s position as a part-time CLT on the day shift in the
Toxicology lab has been eliminated in the new staffing patterns for
the consolidated Special Testing labs.

For Michael, as well as other CLTs who find their positions have
been altered or eliminated, her options are to apply for a
lower-level position or switch to the night shift. "In the
meantime, I have two small children," she explained.

Preferential rehire rights automatically accrue to all laid-off
employees. But UPTE alleges that administrators have threatened to
ignore these provisions if laid-off employees file grievances.

On Feb. 10, UPTE also submitted "close to 1000 cards" collected
in a unionization drive, said UPTE organizer Eddie Acosta. The
brief to the PERB board alleges that layoffs were strategically
timed to disrupt the unionization drive.

The rehiring process for approximately 80 supervisors and
specialists, slated for completion by Feb. 7, has not been finished
yet.

"We do not see the necessity for these kind of cuts," said UPTE
Vice-President Cliff Fried. "How’s the work going to get done?"

The restraining order was filed because PERB hearings "can take
a while," according to Fried. Thus far, none of the CLTs laid off
Jan. 31 have been rehired.

The issue of seniority is also under dispute. Whereas
administration has said that seniority is irrelevant to the
restructured labs, UPTE leaders charge that those positions may be
similar enough to require this to be considered.

Mia Musolan, Ph.D., a senior and Fulbright scholar, was demoted
to the position of Health Laboratory Technician (HLT) from a senior
supervisory position. "We’re not laid off yet," said Musolan, who
predicted further staffing cuts. "The lowest levels will probably
be laid off in March," she speculated.

The union reports an upswing in activity since the layoff
notices went out. "Our card collecting has gone over the top," said
Michael, also a labor representative with UPTE. "The pharmacists
are afraid. Everybody’s afraid. If they can do it here, they can do
it elsewhere."