The University of California reached a tentative contract settlement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Wednesday morning, closing a 15-month bargaining period for its 8,500 service workers.
Since October 2007, the custodians, gardeners, food-service workers and bus drivers have picketed, lobbied and gone on strike statewide to decry UC executive salaries and demand a living wage.
‘After a year and half of negotiations, this is truly a historic day,’ said Lakesha Harrison, president of AFSCME Local 3299. ‘[Our actions] were key to getting UC executives to do the right thing and readjust their priorities from executives to the lowest-paid workers at UC.’
The five-year contract includes annual, across-the-board raises of 3 percent ‘mdash; paid retroactively through October 2008 ‘mdash; as well as an additional 1 percent bonus effective in July of this year. All service workers will reach a statewide minimum wage of $14 per hour by January 2013, up from the current minimum of $10.28, and a series of category-specific increases will reward employees for their experience.
In addition, contract language prevents the university from modifying health care and retirement benefits without union approval.
Shelley Nielsen, the university’s chief negotiator for the contract, said she is proud that service workers will finally receive the compensation they deserve.
‘We are very pleased to have reached what we believe is a fair agreement, and one that rewards our service workers for their continued hard work and dedication to the university,’ she said. ‘The university worked very hard throughout the process to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion, and ultimately compromises by both sides enabled us to reach an agreement.’
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a UC regent, was part of an outspoken coalition of public officials supporting the union throughout negotiations by writing letters and meeting with university officials.
‘This is a good settlement,’ he said. ‘It will give some of the lowest-paid workers at the greatest university system in the world enough of a salary to meet the minimum needs of their families.’
He added that despite the university’s repeated efforts to attribute the stalled negotiations to California’s budget crisis, the contract was largely independent of state funds. ‘Only a small portion of the worker’s contract comes from the state budget,’ he said.
UCSD groundskeeper Jorge Olvera, who has led several demonstrations on Library Walk in past months, said the contract is not perfect by any means. He cited parking, in particular, as a rising expense on which the university was unwilling to compromise.
However, he called the contract a symbolic precedent for future UC labor negotiations.
‘It’s a moral victory more than anything else,’ he said. ‘This is a public institution, and it belongs to the people of California. [The contract] is a step in the right direction in being able to change the culture of the university.’
Harrison said she expects union members to ratify the contract by early next month.
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