Research pay differs in UC, industry

Monday, February 1, 1999

Research pay differs in UC, industry

SALARIES: Some employees believe intellectual freedom worth more
than extra cash

By Andy Shah

Daily Bruin Staff

The disparities in income between researchers at UCLA and those
in the private sector continue to motivate employees’ unions to
strive for higher wages, while the university contends that the
differences are offset by the advantages of working in a college
environment.

The average salary of a UCLA staff research associate (SRA) is
$34,659, compared with a salary of $52,997 for someone with a
comparable position in the private sector, according to
representatives from University Professional and Technical
Employees (UPTE), the union that represents non-faculty
researchers.

"UCLA is the most dramatic in the UC system in terms of a gap in
income with the private sector," said Daniel Martin, statewide
coordinator of UPTE.

Martin also said that UCLA has a 49 percent turnover rate for
SRAs, the highest in the UC system.

He said that two principal reasons for these statistics are the
income differences and the status of "casual employees," workers
who are laid off one day a year so they cannot receive permanent
employment status.

"A casual employee has no retirement benefits and a minimal
health plan, but they are still employees of the university,"
Martin said.

But administrators said salary disparities are compensated by
the freedom a researcher has at a university.

"The university offers a superior intellectual environment,"
said C. Kumar Patel, vice chancellor of research. "Some SRAs don’t
mind the differences in salary because of the freedom they have
here."

Patel said that incomes are set by the UC Office of the
President, with individual campuses having some leeway in deciding
them.

He added the turnover rate is not solely determined by the
salary differences.

"They could be leaving because of the salary, working
conditions, or just the fact that some trained individuals are
greatly in demand in the work force," he said.

Norman Abrams, vice chancellor of academic personnel, said the
situation for researchers is similar to that of faculty.

"Many faculty in the professional schools would make much more
in the private sector than they make as faculty," he said. "But
they might not have much independence or be working on interesting
projects.

"If working conditions are attractive, it makes a big difference
for faculty and maybe SRAs," he added.

UC officials said they are trying to reach a compromise with the
workers.

UC President Richard Atkinson has said that he is not interested
in having an "adversarial relationship" with the university’s
employees.

Researchers said they stay at UCLA for various reasons, despite
the higher incomes the private sector might offer.

Kathy Kampf, a SRA in the Neuropsychiatric Institute, said she
turned down an interview with a company offering her a $15,000
income increase because of commuting problems.

"I have a child who prefers to stay in the Westside, and my
husband works in downtown, so I didn’t want to commute all the way
to Thousand Oaks for my job," she said.

Although she admits there is a "big difference" in levels of
income between the public and private sector, she said there are
benefits for staying at UCLA.

"I have the right retirement system, it’s a convenient commute
and I have secure employment here," she said.

Kampf said that some students entering the work force may be
lured by the burgeoning private sector.

"There are some biotech companies offering higher salaries in
San Diego and Thousand Oaks, and they might have jobs and money not
available in the public sector," she said.

Rita Kern, a SRA with the Mental Retardation Research Center,
said that she wasn’t too concerned with salary when she came to
UCLA 22 years ago.

"In the 1970s, the biotech industry almost didn’t exist," she
said. "And I worked at UC San Francisco before, so I wanted to stay
within the University of California."

She added that she has greater freedom with her projects
here.

"At the university, you can stay on a project until completion,"
she said. "In industry, there’s financial pressure. If they don’t
see value in what you’re doing, they’ll cut your project
short."

Kern said that the only way she would consider a job in the
private sector is if there was a major salary hike.

"If there’s a $2,000 increase with the other job, I could still
just burn that on gas money, and that wouldn’t be reason to jump
ship," she said.

Some SRAs said they stay at UCLA because of fewer work
restrictions.

"It’s not a 9-to-5 job, and you don’t have to do the same thing
over and over again," said Ryan Trinh, a SRA in the immunology lab.
"Plus, you get recognized for what you do."

"For example, I could be named co-inventor on a patent here, and
I doubt I could do that in industry," he said.

Martin, of UPTE, said some SRAs stay at UCLA because of their
devotion to their research.

"They stay in public research because there’s an integrity with
what they’re doing," he said. "It’s research without the intent of
profit."

But he said the university’s research mission is being
compromised by the "privatization" of UCLA.

"UCLA is being used as a test campus for corporate ideas, like a
reduction in the work force and cutting labor costs," he said.
"But, they are not reducing the amount of work."

Labor experts said this concept has affected university
administrators.

"If you want to be recognized as a successful administrator at
UCLA, you have to show that you’re a cost cutter, and I don’t know
if that’s the most appropriate style for a university," said
Michael Kushner, a program coordinator for the Labor Occupational
Safety and Health Program, which is part of the UCLA Labor
Center.

He added that UPTE will continue to bargain with the university
to get raises for its constituents, but admitted that it’s a tough
process.

"It’s going nowhere," he said. "The university seems to have no
serious commitment to reach a compromise with us."

Martin said that UPTE is questioning how private donations are
used by the university.

"We don’t know what the real intent of some partnerships are,"
he said. "There have to be people at higher levels who are
benefitting from these donations, because we don’t think that the
students and faculty are benefitting from them."

This week, UPTE will publish a report detailing the salary
differences between SRAs and private sector researchers and
turnover rates.Researcher Rita Kern

has stayed

at UCLA for the past 22 years because she believes that the
university offers

scientists more

flexibility and time to work on projects than do

private firms.

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