Librarians Reach Tentative Agreement on Wages 9-28-2011

The Unit 17 bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with University negotiators this week.   The tentative agreement needs to be ratified by union members.  Each campus will open polling stations over a three day period between October 5-7.  The bargaining team strongly endorses the ratification of the tentative agreement.  Librarians should be on the lookout for announcements about local meetings to discuss the T.A. prior to the vote next week.

Below is a summary of the details of the T.A.  tentative agreement language (PDF)

1)   All Unit 17 Librarians who were awarded merit increases in 2011 will receive those merit increases retroactive to July 1, 2011. Because of problems with the UC payroll system, it may take up to 60 days to actually see the money in paychecks for the roughly one-third of the unit getting merit increases.  The retroactive pay for July 1st through the month when the payment is processed will be paid in a lump sum.  In short, this will unambiguously make whole all who should have received merit awards in July 2011.

2)   Every member of the unit who did not receive a negative decision on their most recent merit review will also receive a 3% pay increase. It will, as with the merit increases, start to be reflected in paychecks a few months into the future (but no more than 90 days), but the increases will be retroactive back to October 1, 2011. Therefore, in addition to the 3% increase in base pay, such members of the unit will also receive a lump sum payment to cover the months between October 1st and whenever the paychecks are actually modified.

3)   However, unit members who received, however, a negative merit action or who are currently subject to other forms of discipline under Article 25 in the Librarian MOU, will not receive this 3% pay increase. This is consistent with the public relations gambit being run by UCOP that they are only giving pay increases these days to “meritorious employees” rather than the more traditional “range adjustments.”  This is also the approach they have taken with Senate Faculty and Lecturers.

4)   Unit members with “neutral” merit reviews (i.e. “no action” reviews) such as those at Librarian Step 5 or Associate Librarian Step 7, or those who deferred their last review but previously had a positive merit reviewwill receive the 3% increase.

5)   The University Administration’s Team agreed with us that the current salary scale, which results in middle- and lower-rank librarians compensated far behind market rate, is not conducive to recruitment and retention of librarians in UC. Both parties will make a primary objective of our next bargaining (starting in 2012, when the entire Contract will be open for bargaining) to address this issue.

On the negative side, despite strong attempts to do so, we were unsuccessful in resisting the inclusion of those subject to discipline under Article 25 in the group precluded from participating in the 3% pay increase.

More importantly, on the negative side, and again despite very strong attempts to do so, we were unsuccessful in removing the provision in the current contract that allows the University Administration to withhold merit increases while the salary article is open for bargaining. In fact, the situation in this respect was worsened for us, because the University insisted on language that allows them to withhold merit increases when the salary article is open not only during reopeners (for example when the salary article is open but the rest of the contract is in place, as is currently the case), but also during negotiations over a successor agreement (when the entire contract is open for negotiation, as it will be next year).  It is likely that the Administration insisted on this provision because they want the option of using this “hammer” as a form of intimidation next year as they tried to do this year.

The Negotiating Team found this provision to be unwarranted, unfair, and obnoxious, but we signed the tentative agreement nonetheless because of the following considerations:

1)   There is no question that the Administration would not have removed this provision from the MOU without a strike or other major job actions on the part of Librarians statewide. We don’t believe our unit is ready for such actions at this point.

2)   This year, despite the implementation of the threat to withhold merit increases, in the end, we were successful in overcoming the merit withholding with retroactivity that made everyone whole. In short, it did not work as a threat because you as members mobilized in support of a pay increase.

3)   We are concerned that the very positive economic package we achieved might well be threatened if we postpone a tentative agreement in hopes of persuading the Administration to change their minds. There is little doubt that the economic situation in California and with the UC budget is going to get worse and not better in the next year or so. In any case, it would certainly delay the payment of the merits and the pay increase until the issue could be resolved.