University of California extends lecturer contracts, postpones topic of salary increases
By Cristina Chang
March 10, 2010 11:08 p.m.
The University of California system has reached a contract extension with UC lecturers that contains no salary increases, UC officials announced Friday.
Although the extension was recently reported, the deal was approved on Feb. 26, said Bob Samuels, president of the University Council ““ American Federation of Teachers. The issue of salary increases was put off for a year as the university will wait for its budget to become more stable, he said.
Samuels said that the union did not find it productive to negotiate when the university argued that it was in bad financial shape, although he questioned how much the university system actually had in funding.
The agreement would continue the UC merit review program, which gives bonuses to lecturers who receive good ratings, as well as medical and retirement benefits. The contract expires July 31, 2011.
“I think that (the contract) recognizes that lecturers play a critical role in helping UCs with its instructional agreement,” said Leslie Sepuka, UC spokeswoman. “It definitely acknowledges their work, but it also appreciates their agreement with working with us in recognizing the fiscal crisis.”
She added that the retention of the merit program does give lecturers the opportunity for wage increases.
The UC librarians, who make up another unit of the UC-AFT, ratified their salary and professional development articles in February after discussions about monetary issues such as salary, said Miki Goral, UC-AFT secretary-treasurer and UCLA librarian.
The rest of the contract was ratified in April 2008.
Goral said the librarians wanted and were able to preserve a salary scale as opposed to a salary range in the current contract.
A salary scale would set the wages at a fixed level in accordance with how long a librarian worked, while a salary range would put the amount to the discretion of management.
Protections such as a legally binding grievance article, which allows librarians to file their complaints and concerns, were also included in the contract.
Like that of the lecturers, the librarians’ next contract will be negotiated in 2011.
