'Plantation Mentality' Leads Coalition ofUniversity Unions to Call for Reforms of UC, CSU...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 1999--

UC and CSU are Worst Employer Scofflaws, UC Abuses State Funding,

Says Coalition

Faculty, librarians and staff at the University of California and California State University today decried what they call the "plantation

According to Jelger Kalmijn, president of the University Professional and Technical Employees, Communication Workers of America, "tens of millions of public dollars have been spent by UC and CSU to defeat the public policy of the state."

UC and CSU are ranked the numbers one and two worst public employers in California based on the number of Unfair Labor Practice charges filed against them, said Professor Jeremy Elkins, a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and AFT UC Council vice president.

Kalmijn also charged that the University of California diverts money from state funds that are designated for wage increases. UC spends only 50% to 75% of wage money requested from the state on actual wages. The employees and their representatives called for passage of SB 860 by Sen. Teresa Hughes (D - Los Angeles) that reforms the Higher Education Employee Relations Act.

Employees detailed how the University of California uses "temporary" lecturers and graduate students to replace full professors. These fully-qualified educators receive little job security or basic support, according to Elkins.

The misuse of lecturers is but one example of the failure of the collective bargaining system at the universities, said Mary Bergan, president of the California Federation of Teachers. Here are others the employees outlined:

-- Administrators' recent pay raises were greater than many employees' annual salaries; and,

-- UC and CSU refuse to bargain in good faith, but unilaterally impose administration positions.

The employee union representatives called for state reforms to protect university employees, and to require the administration to bargain in good faith. "Current law gives the University unilateral power to impose terms and conditions of employment when parties reach an impasse," said Bergan. "The University has no incentive to bargain in good faith, but rather has the incentive to simply reach impasse so that it can unilaterally impose its conditions."

"Since the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act (HEERA) was enacted, there have been a total of 649 Unfair Labor Practice charges brought against the University of California, which has earned the reputation one of the worst public employers in the state. The number of charges is increasing and the last two years represent the highest yearly totals ever. Many of these charges involve the University's retaliation against employees because of their union activity," said Elkins.

The employees' union representatives cited two examples of the failure of the current collective bargaining system at the universities:

1. The recent strike by graduate assistants from the University of California; and,

2. The faculty at CSU voted last year to authorize a strike. Although a final settlement was reached that avoided a strike, the near-strike is evidence of the failings of the current system.

Elkins told the news conference that "bargaining with UC has become a matter of our pleading and their saying 'no,' no matter how reasonable or modest the request."

Elinor Levine, president of the Coalition of University Employees, which represents approximately 18,000 clerical employees at the University of California, told the news conference that, "At UC-San Francisco's Hunter Point Animal Facility, six Unfair Labor Practice charges have been filed in the past three years alleging more than 20 violations of the law -- including interrogating employees as to who attended union meetings, and threatening to close the facility if union activity continued. Recently, after the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) found in the employees' favor, a manager told a union steward union lost and the steward should look for a new job."

Labor expert Ed Purcell told a State Capitol news conference, "Both the California State University and the University of California vigorously opposed enactment of collective bargaining rights for their employees after such rights had already been afforded other California public employees. The governing boards and administrations of both institutions have routinely and publicly questioned the appropriateness of the collective bargaining process to higher education to this day."