Unit 18 Bargaining Update #10

August 10, 2011

Colleagues:

We continue to make progress at the table. After two full days of bargaining this week, we have reached a tentative agreement on Article 6, which we hope will lead to more annual, as opposed to quarter by quarter, appointments. We have also completed bargaining on the Appointment Articles (7a,7b, and 7c) with the exception of a single issue in Article 7a and a single issue in Article 7b. We are very close to coming to agreement on these two  rather challenging issues.

We are basically done with Summer Session (23) and are very very close on Workload (24). We are waiting for UC to send two articles--Grievance and Arbitration-- that both sides think are done up the command chain for discussion and final approval. So, what is left? Other than a couple of very technical points needing additional clarification, we are down to Layoff, Duration--and the economic articles.

Here is what I can say: we have had what our team considers to be fruitful discussion on layoff, and we are waiting for UC to offer us some language that captures that discussion--and even furthers it. I am hopeful that we can reach agreement at our next sessions in Oakland later this month. (But we might not get there.)  We also plan to discuss the economic package at that time. In our experience, once these conversations begin, the bargaining moves much more quickly and deals get struck. At this time, we have nothing firm to say about how things will play out in the end, but we do have an expectation that they will play out.

We've set two days of bargaining in Oakland during the week of the 22nd August. And we are also holding two additional days that week, assuming that we can push everything through to the end (which, of course, is probably overly ambitious). At that time, we'll determine whether or not to extend the contract another month or let it expire. UC repeated today its interest in settling the contract as soon as it possibly can.

Please don't hesitate to contact your staff member with questions--those questions do reach the bargaining team.

And, while I am at it, for my Berkeley colleagues who are about to go back to class--best wishes for the coming semester.

Alan Karras

Unit 18 Chief Negotiator

Senior Lecturer  & Associate Director, International and Area Studies, UCB