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UC-AFT Insider July 2017

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University Council-AFT Insider        
July 9, 2017

In this issue:

  • Librarians Prepare for Bargaining--Regional Meetings: July 15, August 5 and 12
  • AB 119: New State Law Requires Union Access to New Employee Orientations
  • Janus v. AFSCME—Our Freedom to Negotiate in Jeopardy Again
  • Know Your Rights: Article 23 Summer Sessions Appointments (Unit 18)

Librarians Prepare for Bargaining--Regional Meetings: July 15, August 5 and 12
Librarians will be meeting July 15 in Burbank, August 5 in Berkeley and August 12 in Irvine to prepare for the next round of contract negotiations. The full Unit 17 MOU opens for negotiation February 1, 2018. The July meeting is an overview of union issues and work with a focus on defending and strengthening our contract. See the agenda here. At the August meetings, we will identify and prioritize bargaining issues and we will develop a campaign plan to ensure that we strengthen our contract in the next round of negotiations. Broad participation by rank and file librarians is essential for this process! Please contact your local’s field rep to rsvp for these meetings.
 
AB 119: New State Law Requires Union Access to New Employee Orientations
AB 119 became law when Governor Brown signed the State budget on June 27. The new law requires public employers, including UC, to provide union access to new employee orientations. Per the new law, UC-AFT will initiate negotiations with UC to better define “orientation” and to reach agreement on the details of our access. The actual experiences of lecturers and librarians with onboarding meetings at the campus and department level will be very important for these negotiations. If you would like to share your orientation story, which can remain anonymous, please send an e-mail to: orientation@ucaft.org

Janus v. AFSCME—Our Freedom to Negotiate in Jeopardy Again
On June 6, the Supreme Court received a petition to hear Janus v. AFSCME. With the court solidly in corporate hands, this case was rushed forward on the hope that it could overturn 40 years of established law that has long protected the right of working families to join our unions and negotiate a fair return on our work. The forces pushing this case, and previous similar cases, understand that the loss of the fair share fee could dramatically reduce the ability of working people to fight for fair wages, secure retirements, a clean and safe environment and a decent quality of life for our families. It is expected that the Court will hear the case in winter and issue a decision by June 2018. Our best defense against this attack is an active union membership who understands and communicates the value of our union to colleagues.  Check out this flyer for some of our basic accomplishments.

Know Your Rights: Article 23 Summer Session Appointments (Unit 18)
Last year, about 1800 out of 5400 UC lecturers taught at least one Summer Sessions course. Lecturers who teach in Summer Sessions should review Article 23 of the Unit 18 MOU, which contains important information about summer appointments.  Here are a few key points:

  • Summer pay for lecturers is based on the annual salary for the regular academic year and is linked to the percentage of salary received by senate faculty for summer courses. 
  • In very limited cases, summer session courses can count toward continuing appointment eligibility.
  • Appointment letters must be issued for summer appointments and must contain specified information.
  • Summer pay is considered “supplemental” by the IRS and is therefore taxed at a higher rate.

Our recent victory in preserving retirement benefits for summer lecturers on some campuses illustrates the importance of this article as well as the need to strengthen it in significant ways in future negotiations.

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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.