In an attempt to reach an agreement and settle a years-long labor dispute, the University of California on March 3 submitted to the Coalition of Union Employees– the union representing UC’s 18,000 clerical workers – a final offer with compromises that include a 10 percent salary increase for police dispatchers at the UC Irvine campus, and a two percent increase for clerical employees working in the nutrition services department at UC San Diego Medical Center.

The university has been bargaining with CUE since July 2003, including recent fact-finding proceedings, over 2003-04 wages, benefits and parking, and UC offered the compromise to respond to some of the union’s requests and reach an agreement. The university said it could only offer increases to these select groups of employees because comprehensive increases would result in a significant financial liability.

Lack of state funding has prevented the university from offering across-the-board increase to employees throughout the UC system, including clerical workers, for the last two years. As a result, salaries for many employee groups throughout the UC system are lagging behind the market. Fortunately, UC’s new budget compact with the governor provides for increased salary funding, which if supported by the Legislature, should allow UC to begin to reverse that trend.

CUE maintains that all clerical workers should receive across-the-board increases, which would create a permanent unfunded liability for the university of more than $10 million per year. CUE also maintains that clericals should receive separate treatment and be spared from health insurance premium increases and parking rate increases that other employees have had to pay.

Despite CUE’s repeated misconduct during recent negotiations, including the union’s illegal publicizing of the fact-finding report for which the union received a formal state reprimand, the university remains committed to doing everything it can to reach an agreement.

The university has taken several measures to help reward all employees for their continued dedication and contributions, especially during the last two years of tight budgets and no systemwide salary increases. They includes adopting a salary-based approach to health care costs, in which lower paid staff pay less for medical premiums, and offering employees multiple deferred retirement income programs that will boost employees’ future income.