After three years without a contract, University of California lecturers represented by University Council-AFT have reached an agreement with the university administration.

The bargaining team for the unit of 2,000 lecturers and non-senate faculty announced on May 30 that they had settled on an agreement covering the period ending June 30, 2005. The ratification vote will be held before the end of this month.

The negotiations process was contentious.  For three years union members held protests, rallies and job actions on six campuses--including some unfair labor practice strikes--to force the administration to bargain in good faith. In the end, the agreement addresses the union's significant concerns about job security, professional issues and compensation.  It also strengthens tools the union has to enforce provisions of the contract.

The new contract guarantees merit reviews every three years for continuing non-senate faculty who have been employed six or more years, with the expectation of continuing appointments. It has contractual protections against replacing--or "churning"--lecturers who have been employed fewer than six years without first providing reviews. This practice allowed the university to save money by continually replacing the lower paid pre-six lectures without giving them a chance to gain post-six year status.

The settlement sets up a professional development fund of approximately $250,000 a year.

The settlement also raises pre-six-year lecturers' salary from $27,000 to $37,000 by 2005 and sets a minimum salary for continuing appointees at $40,200 in 2004 with an increase in 2005.  Post-six-year lecturers with a successful three-year merit review will also be eligible for salary increases, although under the new contract, post-six-year lecturers are no longer required to undergo three-year reviews by the administration.

Another important feature of the agreement is its increased enforceability in every area, including the ability to seek binding dispute resolution and arbitration on post-six-year avoidance claims, improper layoffs and discipline and dismissal actions.

Kevin Roddy, UC-AFT president, notes that the old contract, which had been in place for 18 years, was not fully arbitratable. "Now we have the chance to go to an outside objective force with our grievances; before, the administration was the highest authority to which we could turn," says Roddy, adding that grievances were usually the result of an administrative decision.

"This is the best contract for lecturers in the country," says Roddy. "It proves that we can be and should be recognized as professionals within the system."

"It was clear that the union had undertaken a major challenge and set a high bar," says Rebecca Rhine, UC-AFT chief negotiator, who applauded the efforts of "an unbelievably dedicated bargaining team."

Mike Rotkin, a vice-president of UC-AFT and a member of the bargaining team, credits the essential support of the union members. "We would have been in bargaining forever were it not for the incredible commitment and activism of lecturers at each campus," he says. "The bargaining team worked really hard on this; but the members made it happen." [Heather Raiti]

[June 13, 2003]