Unit 18 Bargaining Update #9

29 July 2011

Colleagues:

First of all, thank you to those members who voted in our contract extension ballot; the authority to extend the contract passed by a very large margin. And, this afternoon, we signed an agreement to extend the contract to the 31^st of August. All of its provisions will remain in effect until then.

Second, I wanted to provide a status update for where we are at with bargaining. We have met for 5 (very long and productive) days over the last ten days. Our news is generally good. All told, we have TA’d (tentatively agreed) 7 articles (3, 8, 10,12, 30, 41, and a new article on on-line education). We are very close to agreement on 6 more (7b, 7c, 23, 27, 32, and 33), with only an additional item or two in each article waiting for resolution. We have had full and frank discussions on these articles and crafting final language acceptable to both parties may yet take us a little while. (UC has to consult also with some of its internal constituents.) But the sides are moving closer together. Articles 6 and 7a still require a bit more work, but even here the remaining issues are not so great. And, significantly, we are starting to list the topics that must be updated in the contract administration manual.

Though we have not started extensive discussions about the economic package, both sides are exchanging information about various possible scenarios that might lead to an agreement. I know that this is the single most important area to many members; we will work very hard on this.

The teams are meeting again on the 9^th and 10^th of August, in Irvine, where the Union bargaining team hopes that the gaps on the remaining articles can be closed and we can then turn our attention more fully to economics. We have two more dates scheduled--the 22^nd and 23^rd of August—before we have to determine whether we can extend again if we have not completed our negotiations.

I will write after each of these sessions, with further updates. In the meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to contact your local staff member with any questions.

Best wishes for now,

ALK  

Alan Karras

Chief Negotiator, Senior Lecturer

Associate Director, International and Area Studies (IAS)