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UC-AFT Insider November 2017

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University Council-AFT Insider
November 9, 2017
 

In this issue:

·UC-AFT…by the Numbers

·Part-Time Faculty Health Benefits Eligibility Guide

·Labor Lexicon: Post-6 Avoidance or Churning

·Collective Bargaining in Higher Education Regional Conference Long Beach

UC-AFT…by the Numbers
4,038 lecturers are teaching at UC this term. 950 lecturers teach at UCLA, 142 at Merced. 1,123 lecturers have full-time appointments. 1/3 of lecturers have a continuing appointment. 72% of our bargaining unit is part-time. Today, 2,098 lecturers are UC-AFT members. 312 new members have joined so far this academic year averaging 3.5 new members per day. 4.2% is the average increase in minimum salary negotiated by our union between 2003 and 2018. There are 104 lecturers and librarians in elected and appointed leadership roles on UC-AFT Local boards and collectives.

89.6% of the 366 UC librarians are union members. 1 more librarian member will move us to 90% membership! There are 22 Assistant Librarians, 150 Associate Librarians and 194 full Librarians. 47% of all UC librarians work at UCLA and UCB. 18-20% is our pay lag with CSU and CCC librarians. 55 librarians are in active and committed roles in support of our 2018 contract campaign to close the pay gap and achieve other gains.

Part-Time Faculty Health Benefits Eligibility Guide
Nearly half of our non-senate faculty members have appointments below 50%. For many, this means that health and retirement benefits are out of reach. Often, these part-time appointments are variable from term to term or year to year, which can make it very difficult to determine benefits eligibility. Our V.P. for Grievances, Ben Harder, has drafted this clear and brief benefits eligibility guide to provide an overview of benefits levels and to help part-time lecturers quickly assess their eligibility. Please get in touch with a UC-AFT colleague or the field representative on your campus if you have additional questions.

Labor Lexicon: Post-6 Avoidance or Churning
Article 7a.D.1 says, “…the University will not engage in activities or establish practices and/or programs that preclude Pre-Six year NSF access to Continuing status or Continuing Appointments.” When we suspect that a department is intentionally limiting access to a continuing appointment, we often use the term “churning.” There are many reasons why lecturers don’t reach continuing status, and our union spends considerable resources investigating cases where we suspect that there may be a violation of the contract. Consider your own department. Are there continuing appointees? How many people have reached the 6th year excellence review? Is there a pattern of people who teach commonly taught courses not reaching continuing status? If so, your department may be churning and it could affect your appointment in the future. Get in touch soon for more information.

Collective Bargaining in Higher Education Regional Conference Long Beach
The National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions is holding a a labor–management conference in Long Beach, December 1-2, 2017. UC-AFT President, Mia McIver, will be on a panel on Friday afternoon along with UC’s chief negotiator, Nadine Fishel. Check out the preliminary schedule here. Register online here.

Join UC-AFT: Become a member of UC-AFT using our easy online membership form.

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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.