UC employees protest, demand higher wage increase

UCLA clerical employees protested outside the UCLA Wilshire Center on Wednesday against what they called a low proposed wage increase.

About 200 members of Teamsters Local 2010, a union that represents around 14,000 University of California clerical, administrative and support staff, called the 1.5 percent increase unacceptable.

“After decades of driving down wages, it is time for the UC to show our hardworking members respect and pay workers enough to live,” said Jason Rabinowitz, the Teamsters Local 2010 secretary-treasurer.

About 20 Teamsters members also protested Wednesday for the same reasons outside of California Hall at UC Berkeley, according to the Daily Californian.

Union members also protested two retirement benefits plans the UC Board of Regents approved at its March meeting: a hybrid defined benefit plan, which includes a supplemental defined contribution plan, and a pure defined contribution plan.

Some critics of the defined contribution plan, including many unions, said it may motivate higher-paid employees to opt out of the hybrid plan since they can receive benefits earlier.

In a defined benefit pension plan, an employer or sponsor promises a specified monthly amount based on earning history, service and age. In a defined contribution plan, the employer, employee or both regularly make contributions to the retirement fund.

The UC-defined contribution plan stipulates the UC would contribute an amount equal to 14 percent of employees’ income to the retirement fund. The contribution would be limited to the Internal Revenue Service cap of $265,000.

In the UC hybrid plan, on the other hand, the UC would contribute 14 percent of employees’ income up to $117,020, the cap set by the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act. The UC would also contribute an amount equal to 10 percent of income up to the IRS limit of $265,000.

For both plans, employees contribute 7 percent of their earnings to their retirement funds, but the defined contribution plan has a higher income cap for UC contributions.

In a statement, Teamsters also criticized what it called excessive pay for executives, including UCLA Chancellor Gene Block.

UC and the union continue to try to negotiate a new contract acceptable to both parties, according to union officials.