University of California officials announced today (Dec. 16) that they have reached a tentative agreement with the Coalition of University Employees union on a new contract for UC's clerical employees through Sept. 30, 2008.

Under the agreement, UC’s clerical employees will receive wage increases of approximately 12 percent over the next three years contingent upon state funding, including a 3.5 percent increase retroactive to Oct. 1, 2005, when other UC employees received increases. UC’s library assistants and other clerical employees will receive additional market equity increases for the first two years of the agreement to help address salary lags.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement for our clerical employees” said Howard Pripas, UC executive director of labor relations. “We very much look forward to providing our clerical employees well-deserved salary increases and this agreement will continue to build stable and positive labor-management relationships at UC.

Additional details of the agreement will be made available upon ratification of the contract.

The agreement with the clerical employees was the fourth labor agreement for UC in the last two weeks. Last week UC reached tentative agreements with unions representing UC nurses, librarians, as well as research support and technical employees.

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