In this issue:
· Election Day- Vote for Public Education
· Unit 18 (Lecturers) Bargaining Announcement, Meetings and Survey
· President Yudof Recommends Changes to UCRP--UC-AFT Responds
· Know Your Rights- Article 7b Process for Initial Continuing Appointments
Election Day- Vote for Public Education
This election will have big implications for the future of our state in terms of our commitment to the concept of the public good, and for ensuring funding for essential programs, including higher education. Please vote! Click here for the CFT voter recommendations.
Unit 18 (Lecturers) Bargaining Announcement, Meetings and Survey-
UC-AFT is preparing for negotiations for the full Unit 18 MOU beginning in early January 2011. We will be holding member meetings on each campus to discuss issues, priorities and the bargaining process. Member input at these meetings will be essential to our success at the bargaining table. Please follow this link to a bargaining message from Unit 18 Chief Negotiator, Alan Karras, which includes the campus-by-campus schedule of bargaining meetings.
http://ucaft.org/content/unit-18-bargaining-set-begin
We have also posted a very brief bargaining survey on-line. We hope that members will complete the survey in addition to attending the meetings. Please follow this link to the survey.http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/unit18bargainingsurvey
President Yudof Recommends Changes to UCRP--UC-AFT Responds
UC President Yudof has announced his final recommendations to the UC Board of Regents regarding changes to the UC pension plan. While many of the PEB Task Force’s worst ideas are not forwarded in Yudof’s recommendations, some critical issues remain unresolved. The Regents will discuss Yudof’s recommendations at their meeting in November and a final decision is expected mid-December. UC-AFT President, Bob Samuels, responds to Yudof’s announcement here: http://ucaft.org/content/samuels-response-yudof-ucrp-recommendations
Know Your Rights- Article 7b-Process for Initial Continuing Appointments
In 2003, UC-AFT negotiated the continuing appointment into the Unit 18 MOU. For the first time, lecturers were granted indefinite contracts with seniority, layoff and rehire rights. Today, nearly 40% of our unit members have continuing titles. Every year, dozens of our members go through the excellence review process. UC-AFT provides excellence review workshops on each campus to educate members about their rights and help them prepare for the review. For more on the excellence review process, including downloadable and printable materials, follow this link: http://ucaft.org/content/sixth-year-excellence-review
Membership
If you have not already joined the union, please fill out the attached membership form, or download one from our website. You are represented by UC-AFT, but representation and deductions from your pay do not mean that you are automatically a member. You can mail the completed application to the address on the bottom of the form, or contact your local staff for assistance.
http://ucaft.org/content/join-uc-aft
The University Council – American Federation of Teachers is an affiliate of the California Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.
Below please find an article-by-article summary of the changes to the librarian contract negotiated in successor bargaining for the Unit 17 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A ratification vote will be held at all campuses during the week of March 31-April 4. There will also be a mail ballot option for those unable to vote on their campuses. Only union MEMBERS have the right to vote.
Click here to read the summary.
To review the texts of the tentatively agreed on articles, click on the links below:
Revised Articles
To find out what your raises will be in the next 3 years, lecturers should look up your annual FTE (full-time equivalent) salary, and count the number of semesters you have been teaching on campus. Then refer to the "2007 Lecturers' Contract Improvements" located here. (Links to the full texts of the new articles are at the bottom of the summary page).
(Excerpt)
1) New Salary Floor: October 1, 2007 (effective with November paycheck) Starting: Just under $42,100 Post-Six: Just under $46,500
2) Guaranteed Salary Increases: We are guaranteed three percent increases in each of the next three years. This October, the Senate faculty is slated to get a general range adjustment of 2.5%, so we will do better than the Senate in this regard. In October 2008 and October 2009, if Senate Faculty members receive more than 3%, we will get whatever they get, but if they get less than that, we will still get 3%.
3) New Salary Scale:The old salary scale is rather arbitrary. The difference between steps ranges between 1.4% and 2.8%. Therefore, most merit increases were much lower than 5%. Each step on the new scale will now reflect a 2.5% increase above the previous step.
4) Significant pay increases targeted to those who have taught the longest and to those who have the lowest salaries: In July 2008 and July 2009, two rounds of one-time salary adjustments will be implemented, according to the following rules.
Download the lecturer's salary chart here.
· Guaranteed 3% salary increase for each of the next three years, which is more than Senate faculty are guaranteed.
· Substantial salary increases for long-term lecturers, those with more than ten years of UC service. Some will be getting over 25% to resolve salary compression. This is in addition to any merit increases that will be awarded during the period.
· Average total salary increase over the next three years for continuing appointments will be just over 16-17%. Any merits received will increase this amount by at least 5%.
· A new minimum for all lecturers, effective in October 2007, of over 42,000.
· Increase of minimum merits to 5%, from 3.8%.
· Commitment to address the social security problem for lecturers with less than 50% appointments.
· A new course load maximum of 8 courses for lecturers who teach writing and foreign languages on the quarter campuses.
· Elimination of "second section discounts"
· New processes for reducing workload and giving credit for the work lecturers do outside of the classroom
· A new system-wide grievance process for workload disputes.