PRO/UAW
        The Union for over 6000 Postdoctoral Researchers at UC

 
  Bargaining Updates from PRO/UAW

 

Press releases and fliers are available here.

Read past bargaining updates from PRO/UAW:

PRO/UAW Contract Action Update

July 28, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

Over the last two days, delegations of Postdocs and our allies across UC converged on campus Chancellors’ offices to demand that they call President Yudof and urge him to ensure an immediate and fair conclusion to negotiations for our first contract. These actions sent a strong message to UC administrators that Postdocs will not accept further delays in these negotiations. Postdocs also made clear that if the contract is not settled this week, there will be increased action to ensure that UC reaches agreement on a contract that makes well-deserved and long-overdue improvements to our pay, benefits, rights, and working conditions.

These actions build on a growing chorus of voices in the campus and larger communities calling on UC to reach agreement on this important contract. While a majority of Postdocs have continually made clear our demand for a strong first contract over the last few years, we have now been joined increasingly by student leaders, faculty, and Congressional leaders in urging UC to bargain in good faith and reach a fair agreement. Earlier this week, for example, a supportive faculty member wrote an opinion piece in the Daily Californian urging UC to reach agreement, which you can read here.

Thank you very much to everyone who participated in the actions this week- it was a fantastic experience to share with all of you. We will be meeting again with UC negotiators this Thursday and Friday and hope to have positive news at the end of the week. If we do not reach agreement, however, it will be important to continue and expand the types of actions taken this week to bring these historic negotiations to conclusion.

To get more involved, share your ideas, and to participate in future actions, please respond to this email!

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Neal Sweeney
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Bargaininig Update

July 1, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We met with UC's bargaining team again for the 58th and 59th times on June 30 and July 1. For the first time, after months of saying they were "philosophically opposed" to such increases, the University has started to approach our concept of experience-based pay increases for Postdocs. However, the total amount of their proposed increases is still insufficient.

What is worse, they also continue to also propose that Postdocs pay a substantially-increased portion of our health care costs and have reduced benefits. In fact, under their proposal, required contributions to health care premiums would outweigh pay increases such that many Postdocs would experience an overall loss in compensation.

While it is significant that they are moving toward our model for Postdoc minimum pay scales, it is totally unacceptable that after telling us they needed until the end of June to make a comprehensive offer to settle the contract, they proposed an overall net loss in compensation. When pressed to make a proposal that would settle the contract, UC negotiators said that they were not authorized to do so (unless we were willing to accept their meager offer) and that they needed to consult others in the University who were not at the table.

University negotiators have agreed to meet again in late July at which point they pledge that they will be prepared to make a proposal that will lead to a fair agreement.

We will be in contact to hold meetings on each campus to plan how Postdocs can get involved in increasing the likelihood of having a contract after our next session. Thank you again for your support, and if you have questions or would like to get more involved please respond to this email.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Neal Sweeney
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Contract Campaign Update

June 28, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

Since filing our unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the state labor board earlier this month, our campaign for a first contract has gained increased attention and momentum.

First, our contract campaign has received recent attention in the local and science media, increasing the spotlight on UC’s continued delays in reaching agreement on our first contract. This past weekend, for example, our campaign was the subject of a feature news article in the San Francisco Chronicle. For links to that and other coverage from the last week, click here.

Second, Congressional scrutiny over UC’s excuses for not reaching agreement continues to grow. Since April, UC administrators have claimed that they are unable to track research funding and have been using this an excuse to reject our proposals for reasonable salary increases and to delay bargaining. In response, Representatives Miller, Lee and Woolsey have now asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the arm of Congress that oversees the spending of public funds, to perform an audit of how universities like the University of California track their research funding. According to the Congressional representatives, UC’s hiding behind its alleged inability to track how much Postdocs are paid “raises serious questions” about how the University takes care of public dollars allocated to carry out important research projects.

We will be meeting again with UC’s negotiators on Wednesday and Thursday. Hopefully, we will reach agreement and have good news. Otherwise, we should all be prepared to step up our continued efforts to make clear to UC that they must stop stalling and reach agreement immediately.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Neal Sweeney
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Files Charges of Unfair Labor Practices by UC

June 9, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We filed charges today with the state labor board charging the University with unfair labor practices (ULPs). UC commits ULPs when they fail to fulfill their legal obligation to bargain in good faith. Given UC’s continued pattern of unlawful bargaining behavior, which we have discussed in previous updates, it is necessary that we take all possible steps to get UC to bargain in good faith so that we can reach agreement on our first contract. Included below is the press release we are sending out about the charges, which also includes a link to our website where you can read the document outlining the charges that we submitted to the state labor board.

The press release we are sending out about the charges can be found here.

A complete copy of the ULP charge can be found here.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Neal Sweeney
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

May 25, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We met with the UC negotiators again today. While we made some progress on our health benefit proposal, the administration has told us that they will not be ready to make a comprehensive settlement proposal until the end of June. The reason they need this much time is that, following the Congressional hearing, they feel compelled to actually gather the relevant bargaining information that we've been requesting since December 2008. We told the administrators that this is another unnecessary delay; more of an excuse not to reach settlement than a solution for reaching an agreement. For example it would cost the University, at most, $1.6 million / year to settle the issue that they say is now holding up a settlement. That is 0.034% of the growing $4.7 billion research budget of the University! They say they need another month to analyze the data and discuss its meaning internally, but in the meantime we will meet informally to discuss some of the contract language still in debate so that we will be ready to settle when their costing exercises are complete. We have therefore scheduled bargaining for June 30th and July 1st and hope to finish negotiations then!

As you can see, as the pressure to settle the negotiations mounts, their excuses become thinner. With your continued support, we are confident they will soon settle the contract.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Neal Sweeney
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Update

May 11, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

Growing out of the Congressional hearing on April 30, members of Congress have shown increasing interest in seeing UC stop stalling so we can conclude our negotiations for a historic first contract. Here are some of the recent developments.

Congressman George Miller, who chaired the hearing at the end of last month, sent a scathing follow-up letter to UC President Yudof emphasizing his growing dissatisfaction with UC’s slow-paced approach to the negotiations. In the letter, Miller said he “left the hearing thoroughly disappointed” with UC’s efforts to resolve the contract. He pointed in particular to UC’s continued stalling of providing relevant information for the bargaining process and then using its own alleged inability to do so as an excuse to postpone reaching agreement. In our recent bargaining sessions, UC’s chief negotiator claimed, for the first time after 15 months of negotiations, that there may be funding agency restrictions on UC’s ability to provide pay increases to Postdoctoral Scholars-Paid Direct, but has produced no examples of such restrictions and says UC does not track the information—this is information we requested 16 months ago. Miller views this as another stalling effort, saying “it appears that negotiations are being held up over a purely hypothetical issue.” See the full text of the letter here.

Miller also sponsored and successfully passed an amendment to the America COMPETES Act that would require public universities who receive funding under the Act to respond in a timely manner to requests for information related to collective bargaining by Unions representing researchers. “These scientists are among the most highly trained, highly skilled and yet lowest paid professionals in the country,” said Miller. This amendment ensures that our federal tax dollars are well managed and that these critical investments accomplish the goal of developing the next generation of American scientists.” Universities that fail to provide such information in a timely manner would risk suspension of Facilities and Administration costs. Miller emphasized that “Only F&A costs would be affected; grant funds for research itself would not be affected.” To find out more about the amendment, which passed by a vote of 250-174, see a copy of Miller’s press release here.

Lastly, for those of you who were not able to attend the April 30 hearing, you can now access a complete audio recording and photos of the hearing on the House Committee on Education and Labor website at the following address: http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2010/04/understanding-problems-in-firs.shtml

This growing attention of the US Congress reflects the clear and consistent majority mandate from thousands of Postdocs over the last several years for a contract that improves our working lives at UC. While Congressional interest should help make clear to UC that they need to stop stalling, we should ultimately be prepared to take further and more significant action if UC continues to delay.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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Update on Friday's Hearing -- Congress Tells UC to "Make it Happen"

May 03, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

The Congressional hearing regarding our contract negotiations was an overwhelming success on Friday. With hundreds of Postdocs filling the auditorium, Congressional leaders expressed outrage at UC administrators for dragging out negotiations for our first contract, sending a strong and clear message to UC to stop stalling and "make it happen." We hope UC will follow the advice of the committee so we can reach agreement on our historic first contract very soon.

In testimony before the committee, we reiterated how UC has continued to hide behind the state budget crisis and its own alleged inability to provide information as excuses to not settle the contract. Over the course of the hearing, it became clear to the committee that these types of stalling tactics by UC were the main reason the negotiations have dragged on for so long without an agreement. It also became clear that UC could not provide satisfactory answers in defense of their refusal to make proposals that would result in a fair agreement.

The packed room watched as Congressional leaders from California -- George Miller, who chairs the US House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee, Lynn Woolsey who serves on that committee, and Barbara Lee from the House Appropriations subcommittee that helps determine NIH funding -- asked UC's Vice President for Human Resources, Dwaine Duckett, who represented the University in the hearing, difficult questions about why the University was taking so long to reach an agreement. Duckett had difficulty answering basic questions about Postdoc working conditions and the outstanding issues in bargaining. For example, when being asked about possible sources of funding for Postdoc pay increases, he did not understand the difference between the purposes of direct costs and Facilities & Administration costs on research grants at UC.

The committee also heard from former California State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, who got involved in mediation efforts during the negotiations for a first contract between UC and UAW Local 2865, the Union for for Academic Student Employees. Toward the end of those negotiations, Burton recounted, the University's lead negotiator -- the same person who is UC's lead negotiator in our current negotiations -- created similar delays in reaching agreement. After mediation sessions where the UC President agreed to proposals that would have settled the contract, Burton said, the negotiator would "take two steps backwards" from the UC President's position, leading to unnecessary delays in reaching agreement. Burton was disappointed to see things had not changed.

By the end of the hearing on Friday, committee chairman Miller said UC's behavior in bargaining and their inability to provide compelling answers to the committee "raises some very serious questions about credibility in these negotiations." All three committee members urged UC to finish negotiations quickly.

We want to thank the thousands of you who helped make this event such a big success -- by signing letters to your Congressional representatives, helping deliver those letters to Congressional offices across the state, and attending the hearing. As a result, the federal government has shown an unprecedented level of interest in not only our contract negotiations, but Postdoc working conditions in general. "I am disappointed to learn that these negotiations have dragged out so long," said Congresswoman Lee near the end of the hearing. "These workers do important work and are underpaid for what they do." We hope this kind of attention convinces UC to move more quickly.

For news coverage of the event, go to http://www.prouaw.org/news/media.php. To see the growing list of recent letters from other Congressional representatives urging UC President Yudof to reach agreement quickly, go to http://www.prouaw.org/bargaining/support.php. The complete transcript of the hearing should be available sometime soon.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

April 25, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We completed one more day of bargaining on Friday. We passed the UC negotiators our responses to their proposals from last week (described in our previous update, see below). They responded by saying that anything beyond their last offer to us was “well in excess” of what the University was willing to consider. They would not schedule new bargaining dates, but said that they will discuss our proposals and get back to us next week.

We will keep you posted as we learn more. If you would like to get more involved, please reply to this email or call us at (415) 538-0844.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

April 20, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We concluded two more days of bargaining with the University’s bargaining team last Thursday and Friday. While UC made slight movement in our direction on their wage and health care proposals, we still have a long way to go.

UC proposed maintaining our current health care benefits and costs, but only for 2010—this does not mean very much since we are already nearly half way through 2010 anyway and the law prohibits UC from making unilateral changes to our benefits. Moreover, they continue to refuse to guarantee that UC pay health insurance premiums for Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellows and Postdoctoral Scholar-Paid Directs. On wages, UC proposed an across-the-board increase for the first time since we started bargaining, but only a one-time 1.5% increase in July 2010. These proposals fall far short of what Postdocs expect and deserve as well as what UC has agreed to for similar employees like SRAs, Technicians, and Resident Physicians.

What is even worse, UC also proposed that we wait until October 2010 to negotiate any changes to wages or benefits after 2010. UC claims it cannot agree now to health benefits or wage increases in future years because they do not fully understand what the impact would be on the UC budget. For example, they said that they need until October so they can have time to figure out how much all the Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellows and Postdoctoral Scholar-Paid Directs receive in stipends and how many of them currently have to pay their own health insurance premiums in order to understand how much it would cost and where the funding would come from to provide them annual increases and paid health care. We find this particularly outrageous and disingenuous since we requested this very information from the University starting in December of 2008, more than 16 months ago. In other words, UC has failed for more than a year to provide us information necessary for bargaining and is now using the lack of that information as the reason to stall negotiations.

It is this kind of unlawful behavior that may require us to take action in order to get UC to move more quickly at the bargaining table. We will be meeting with UC again on Friday the 23rd and hope we have better news then.

Lastly, we would like to remind you about the US House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee hearing in Berkeley on April 30 and let you know that the details are now on the homepage of our website at www.prouaw.org.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

April 5, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We have encouraging news--one of the most influential committees in the US Congress has scheduled a public hearing to investigate why UC has failed to reach agreement on our historic first contract after nearly 15 months of negotiations.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, chaired by Congressman George Miller of California, will hold the hearing in Berkeley on April 30 (see details below). While UC's negotiators continue to propose that Postdocs accept less in our first contract than what they are providing to similar employees, this hearing creates a productive opportunity to shed light on UC's pattern of stalling and delaying in a way that we believe will help us reach agreement on a fair and equitable contract in the very near future.

In addition to the upcoming public hearing, a growing number of federal legislators have shown increased interest in our first contract campaign in recent weeks. In response to letters from a majority of UC's 6,000 Postdocs, and the involvement of Postdocs in delivering them to Congressional offices around the state, numerous Congressional representatives have called or written letters or emails to UC President Yudof recently, urging him to reach agreement on a fair first contract for Postdocs (see examples of letters to Yudof on our website at http://www.prouaw.org/bargaining/support.php). Thank you again to the thousands of you who signed letters to Congress recently.

We will be meeting with UC's negotiators again on April 15 and 16. While we hope the letters, emails, phone calls, and announcement of the hearing will convince UC to reach agreement when we meet, we should all remain prepared to take further action to get UC to stop stalling and make a fair and equitable offer so that we can reach agreement on our historic first contract.

We will continue to provide updates as we move forward. Please get in touch by email or calling our office at (415) 538-0844 if you would like to get more involved.

Hearing Details: House Committee on Education and Labor Field Hearing--"Understanding Problems in First Contract Negotiations: Post-Doctoral Scholar Bargaining at the University of California" April 30, 2010, 11am Berkeley City College auditorium, 2050 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

February 26, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

Despite continued dramatic growth in UC’s grant and contract revenues, and the central role Postdocs play in generating them, the University continues to reject our proposals for reasonable and much-deserved improvements to Postdoc pay, benefits, and rights, holding up our ability to reach agreement on our first contract.

While hiding behind the state budget crisis is bad enough, UC makes things worse with inequitable proposals that we accept less in compensation and contractual rights than they provide other similar UC employees or that federal funding agencies like NIH provide as a rule for their postdoctoral fellows. For example:

UC REJECTS POSTDOC PAY INCREASES COMPARABLE TO SIMILAR UC EMPLOYEES—Under a tentative agreement just reached between UPTE/CWA and UC, SRAs and Technicians (who work in the same labs and are funded by the same grants as Postdocs) will receive a $1,000 lump sum payment on July 1, 2009, to cover the 2009-2010 year and annual increases of 4.5-5% in each of the 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13 years [for a summary of the tentative agreement, see http://www.upte.org/publication-ebulletin/2010-02-19.html ]. Post-MD Resident Physicians (who are fixed-term postgraduate academic employees like Postdocs) will receive even larger increases, 6.9-7.9% per year in 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12.

UC OPPOSES ANNUAL NIH-LIKE EXPERIENCE-BASED STEP INCREASES—UC opposes these types of increases for Postdocs even though the NIH, by far the largest single source of funding for UC grants and contracts, ensures these types of increases for Kirchstein Postdoctoral Fellows, and UC also already provides annual experience-based increases to post-MD Resident Physicians as well as to thousands of other UC employees.

UC PROPOSES CUTS TO POSTDOC HEALTH BENEFITS—UC’s proposed cuts ignore the fact that, due to the young Postdoc demographic, our health plan is far less expensive than other UC staff plans.

UC PROPOSES FEWER RIGHTS FOR POSTDOCS—UC’s proposals would mean Postdocs have fewer rights than the 12,000 Academic Student Employees represented by our sister UAW Local 2865 when it comes to job security and exercising one’s right to free expression in choosing not to cross other employees’ picket lines.

With these types of unreasonable and inequitable proposals, we will clearly have to continue to take action to keep moving the UC administration toward agreement on our historic first contract. Along those lines, we want to thank the thousands of you who have signed letters to our Congressional representatives asking for their support in telling UC that Postdocs deserve a fair and equitable contract that also reflects our contribution to the advancement of science and the public well-being.

If you have not yet signed a letter, please contact us so we can get one to you. This type of consistent majority action has brought us this close to reaching agreement, but we need to maintain and increase this type of action. We will stay in touch about next steps in mobilizing to win a strong first contract. As always, you can contact us by replying to this email or calling our office at (415) 538-0844.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Oki O’Connor
Laura Bartley
Pesach Lubinsky
Xiaoqing Cao
Norval Hickman
Kirill Afonin

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PRO/UAW Welcome Back and Update

January 11, 2010

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We want to welcome everyone back from the winter holidays. We hope you all had the opportunity to relax and enjoy a nice break.

We also want to thank all of you who participated in the informational picketing on December 15th and helped make it a successful action that raised the campus and public awareness of our campaign for a historic first contract for 6,000 Postdocs at UC. While we have resolved most topics, UC continues to propose cutting our health benefits and denying us pay increases despite huge increases in UC’s grant revenues. The consistent participation of a majority of Postdocs throughout our campaign has brought us this far and will continue to be the critical factor as we move forward to successful completion of our contract campaign.

Lastly, we want to draw your attention to a number of updates we have made to the PRO/UAW website based on your feedback, including: a comprehensive summary of the status of bargaining topics based on all of our updates throughout the negotiations; a revised frequently asked questions section, which includes information about the rights of international Postdocs to participate in the Union; information about UC’s dramatically increasing grant revenues, which fund Postdoc salaries and benefits; and links about our December informational picketing actions across the state.

As always, we will provide updates as we move forward. If you would like to get more involved and help win our first contract, please reply to this email or call us at (415) 538-0844.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Informational Picketing

December 11, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We encourage all of you to come out during your lunch hour next Tuesday to participate in informational picketing about our negotiations with UC. In addition to being an opportunity to make our voices heard, it will be a great opportunity to meet other Postdocs, researchers and technicians from across your campus. Bring your friends and co-workers! See details below.

In solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

==========================================================================

Grant revenue up dramatically as UC rejects proposals to increase salaries and improve benefits.

UC hides behind California budget crisis; researchers, technicians and postdoctoral scholars to protest at all campuses.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 15, 2009. 12-1PM.

WHO: 9,000 researchers and technicians represented by UPTE-CWA, and 6,000 postdoctoral scholars represented by PRO/UAW, together with allies from the campus community, labor and elected leaders.

WHAT: Informational picketing on UC campuses.

WHY: Researchers, technicians and postdoctoral scholars are paid from federal not state money. UC’s revenue from federal agencies is increasing dramatically—including cost-of-living escalators in grants—and UC is prohibited by agreements with funding agencies from using these revenues to substitute for the loss of state funds. Nevertheless, UC is hiding behind the California state budget crisis to propose cutting health benefits and zero salary increases for these researchers.

WHERE: Informational picketing check-in locations are the following:

San Diego: Basic Science Building/Dean School of Medicine

Irvine: Science Library

Riverside: Bell Tower

Los Angeles: “bomb shelter” outside Boyer Hall

Santa Barbara: outside east side of Cheadle Hall (between Cheadle and Campbell Hall)

Santa Cruz: walkway between Science Library and Natural Science 2

San Francisco: Parnassus and Genentech

Berkeley: Bancroft & Telegraph

Davis: Silo

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PRO/UAW Strike Strategy Group

November 6, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We want to thank the growing number of you who have responded with support and feedback regarding recent bargaining updates. We also want to thank the hundreds of volunteer activists across the state who have helped talk to thousands of other Postdocs throughout our campaign about signing up for our Union, filling out bargaining surveys, and, most recently, participating in strike preparation surveys. While we have come a long way toward our historic first contract with the University of California, your continued support, participation and willingness to stand up will be critical to getting UC to bargain in good faith so we can reach agreement.

Many of you have asked whether it will be necessary to strike to get UC to stop its unfair labor practices (ULPs), such as their failure to fulfill their legal obligation to provide the Union with requested information that is necessary to the bargaining process. Since a ULP strike may indeed be necessary, we are convening a PRO/UAW Strike Strategy Group to assess what would be the most effective strategy for a Postdoc ULP strike at UC. To be prepared in case a ULP strike becomes necessary, this group will make recommendations to the bargaining team based on what we've learned from the strike preparation surveys done by thousands of Postdocs in recent weeks as well as what can be learned from the experiences of other Unions at UC who have had to engage in ULP strikes to get UC to bargain in good faith.

If you would like to be part of the PRO/UAW Strike Strategy Group, fill out a strike preparation survey, help administer the survey to other Postdocs, or have other questions, please let us know by responding to this email.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

October 9, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We have just completed four more days of bargaining with UC administrators. We reached agreement on several important articles that will significantly improve Postdoc working conditions, Leaves, Paid Time Off, Union Rights, Union Security and Work-Incurred Illness and Injury. Major improvements in these articles include winning the right for Postdocs to take more time off work with more compensation for important life events like having a baby or caring for a sick family member.

At this point, only a few issues remain unresolved. These include health and other benefits, wages, appointments rights and security, and not giving up the right of individual Postdocs to exercise their conscience in support of other workers' strikes. UC is taking a particularly hard line on wages, arguing that Postdocs should be satisfied with their current salaries. We agree that Postdoc salaries are improved after the October 1st increase in the minimum salary that UC, as a result of bargaining with us, had to provide. The new minimum of $37,400 is still too low and all Postdocs, not just those at the minimum, deserve pay increases that reflect the cutting-edge research that Postdocs perform.

These will be difficult issues to settle both because of the economic crisis UC is experiencing and because UC negotiators continue to stall reaching final agreement in a number of ways including not providing critical information we need to bargain over these issues.

We are scheduled to bargain again with UC on October 26 and 27. As always, we will update you on any developments. Your support and willingness to fight for a strong first contract will continue to be critical as we push forward to reach a final agreement. If you have questions or would like to get more involved, please contact us by responding to this email.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

September 23, 2009

Dear Postdocs,

We just completed one more day of bargaining. Today the administrators gave us a major proposal on leaves, attempting to address many of our concerns about time off for child-bearing, family, and medical leaves. After we asked several questions about how the details of their proposal would be implemented, however, they withdrew their proposal because, as they admitted, they did not themselves understand how their proposal would work nor had they even been providing accurate information about these topics throughout the bargaining process. The earliest they said they will be able to provide us with a new proposal would be next week. They have not yet responded to our recent proposals on wages or health benefits, despite assuring us that they would have a new benefits proposal today. This kind of stalling and bad-faith bargaining is clearly unacceptable.

On a separate topic, we wanted to address the many questions regarding participation in the faculty/student/staff walkout/strike planned for tomorrow, September 24th in protest of the University's response to the state budget crisis (see http://ucfacultywalkout.com for more information) and the University's unfair labor practices against UPTE (the union that represents SRAs and lab technicians) in bargaining for their contract (see http://www.upte.org for more information).

While the vast majority of Postdocs do not depend directly on the state or the UC for the funds to support our research, the fate of the University of California, which is significantly affected by the state budget crisis, ultimately affects us all. Regarding UPTE's unfair labor practice strike, as this email and previous membership updates have made very clear, the University continues to engage in bad-faith bargaining with us just as they do with UPTE and have in the past with our sister Union representing graduate students and other Unions representing other employees at the University. This is another reason that the UC has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most anti-union employers in the western United States.

For all these reasons many Postdocs are choosing to participate in the various protest activities tomorrow. We agree that it is a good idea to participate in protest activities tomorrow. Participation can take many forms such as joining a picket, attending a rally, seminar, teach-in, etc that are planned for your campus (see the links above).

Regarding decisions of whether to honor the UPTE picket lines by withholding your labor tomorrow, we agree with Christopher Kutz, Chair of the Academic Senate at UC Berkeley, who was quoted saying "We regard it as a matter of individual conscience" (San Jose Mercury News, September 21, 2009).

Finally, we'd like to encourage you to attend the events of the first annual National Postdoc Appreciation Day (also scheduled for tomorrow). While we appreciate the recognition conferred by such a day with events and free food, we expect that the UC administration will also show their appreciation for the incredible contribution we make to the research mission of the University by bargaining in good faith and reaching agreement on a historic first contract expeditiously.

As always, thank you for your support and do not hesitate to respond to this email with questions, feedback or to get more involved.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

September 18, 2009

Dear Postdocs,

We have completed two more days of contract negotiations with the UC Management. A small number of articles remain, mostly economic topics. The UC has been slow in responding to our proposals and once again had nothing of substance ready for us this week. We have carefully crafted our compensation package proposal to improve all economic aspects of Postdoc employment while minimizing the impact on the budgets of labs / research facilities.

Rather than meeting our proposals with reasonable compromises, UC is hiding behind the California budget crisis to deny economic improvements to Postdoctoral Scholars despite the fact that Postdoctoral Scholars' salaries and benefits are funded by grants from federal agencies such as NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, etc. UC's federal grant revenue has more than doubled (from $1.37 billion to $2.91 billion) in the last decade and is projected to increase dramatically under the Obama Administration and Democratic Congress, including an additional $21 billion in stimulus measures going to institutions like UC over the next 18 months.

As Postdoctoral Scholars we are highly-trained professionals who play a critical role in carrying out the cutting-edge research that helps make UC a world-renowned institution. Nevertheless, Postdocs have not received a basic across-the-board salary increase in the history of the Postdoc Job Titles. Instead of correcting this injustice and recognizing the invaluable contributions we make to the Research Mission of the University, the administration is actually proposing to freeze our wages and charge us fees for our benefits! This is completely unacceptable and we will *not* stand for it.

We have scheduled our next bargaining session for Wednesday September 23rd.

As always, we will keep you informed of developments as they happen. Please contact us with questions, comments, and especially your willingness to help run your Union. The number of volunteers helping to sign up new Postdocs and survey the membership has been increasing by leaps and bounds. Your participation continues to be the key to advancing the drive to improve life for Postdocs and win more democracy at the University of California.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

August 26, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We have just completed another two days of bargaining with UC administrators, for a total of 44 days since the start of 2009. While we made significant progress in the last two days, agreeing on Management Rights, Waiver (Past Practices), and Work Authorization, several topics are still outstanding, including all economic topics.

UC's continued stalling and failure to provide critical information remain significant obstacles to resolving these remaining topics.

Of the many egregious positions taken by the University in these negotiations, we are particularly shocked at the University's refusal to adopt more family-friendly policies by agreeing to our proposals in the areas of Childcare and Leaves. In so doing, the University fails to address what many national experts agree is the cause of the broken pipeline responsible for gender inequity in academia.

We are scheduled to bargain again on September 17 and 18, but in the meantime will continue to press our case with the UC administration.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

August 21, 2009

Dear Postdocs,

We have finished yet another round of bargaining from Monday through Friday of this week. We have made some significant progress this week securing important rights for Postdocs. We have reached tentative agreement on Workload (Postdocs won't be forced to work an excessive number of hours), Health and Safety (giving us the power to demand a safe working environment), and Grievance and Arbitration (guarantees that the rights we have won will be enforced by a neutral 3rd party). While these are important wins for Postdocs, there are many top priorities that are still unresolved. The university refuses to grant us important rights such as: paid family medical, child bearing, and bereavement leaves; guaranteed wage increases for all Postdocs; improved retirement benefits; increased job security; childcare subsidies; and health benefits.

We have agreed to meet again next week on the 25th and 26th. We expect to reach agreement by the end of the month as well over 3700 of you urged President Yudof to do.

Your support is crucial for us in this fight to win a great first contract for Postdocs. If you wish to get involved, please don't hesitate to reply to this email. As always we will keep you updated with future progress.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

August 14, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We have just concluded 3 more days of bargaining with the University. While we made significant progress on Grievance and Arbitration and Health and Safety, the University is stalling on reaching agreement on these and other basic rights that the 12,000 academic student employees at UC already have in their contract.

The University is also dragging its heels on agreeing to proposals to protect Postdocs from layoffs; to have longer appointments; to have greater visa and immigration rights; to have paid child-bearing, family and bereavement leaves and to have greater protections against unfair and arbitrary work assignments.

Moreover, the University has yet to make a serious (that is, detailed or responsive) proposal on the many economic issues that Postdocs care about (such as Wages, Retirement, and Healthcare).

In addition to refusing to agree on reasonable proposals in the above areas, the University is also not providing much of the information we have requested that is critical to bargaining in these areas.

As Postdocs have stated loudly and clearly (See letter from 3,700+ Postdocs to UC President Yudof, http://www.prouaw.org/news/files/3700.pdf ), we expect to be done with bargaining before the end of August. Therefore, we are proposing that, starting on Monday, August 17, we bargain every single day until we are done (including weekends).

Thank you again for your strong support and participation. We continue to rely on you as the backbone for everything that we do at the bargaining table. If you have not yet added your name to the letter to UC President Yudof (see link above) and would like to, please respond to this email with your name, location, and telephone number and you will be contacted quickly by an organizer.

We will be in touch in the coming days to keep you updated on our progress and to provide more opportunities for you to participate in the process of winning a great first contract.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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3,700 Postdocs urge UC to reach agreement

August 05, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We are very happy to inform you that we (and hundreds of Postdocs at every campus across the state) delivered a letter to President Yudof and Campus Chancellors today from over 3,700 Postdocs (more than 60% of the approximately 6,000 UC Postdocs) urging President Yudof to conclude bargaining for our historic, fully-arbitrable, first contract by the end of August. You can see the letter on our website: http://www.prouaw.org/news/files/3700.pdf

The letter was from Postdocs in 1592 labs in 473 departments on all 10 UC campuses. The letter underscores and amplifies the mandate you have communicated to us throughout the bargaining process. We will carry it into our next set of negotiations which are scheduled to begin next week, Wednesday, August 12.

We appreciate all the support and feedback we continue to receive from all of you. Your continued support and growing willingness to stand up for a strong first contract will be increasingly important!

We will keep you updated as we move forward.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

July 30, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We bargained with the University four days this week. We made notable progress this week by reaching agreement on significant topics such as Individual Development Plans and Performance Assessments, Discipline and Dismissal, Labor-Management Meetings, and University Facilities.

But we continue to have major disputes on important topics such as Grievance and Arbitration, Appointment Rights and Security, Work Expectation, Health and Safety, Leaves of Absence, Retirement, Wages, Health Insurance benefits, Childcare, Visas and Immigration, and Past Practices (this would enable us to ensure that UC can't make unilateral changes to existing practices that we do not address in the contract).

The University also continues to create delays to us reaching agreement in a timely manner. For example, the University has still not provided important, pertinent information we requested several months ago to aid us in the bargaining process.

The progress we made this week reflects the growing majority mandate from Postdocs to have a first contract soon. In order to continue resolving the outstanding issues, we have scheduled bargaining with UC on August 12, 13, and 14.

We appreciate all the support and feedback we continue to receive from all of you. Your continued support and growing willingness to stand up for a strong first contract will be increasingly important!

We will keep you updated as we move forward.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

July 10, 2009

UAW Postdocs,

We just completed 2 more days of bargaining. We reached tentative agreement on one additional topic - Job Posting.

UC continues to stall progress toward reaching agreement on a contract by only making proposals on six topics, despite owing us proposals on every other topic (all 32)!

We are heartened that President Yudof, in response to your feed back and encouragement, "exempted.. student Employees, including postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate employees, health science trainees and postdoctoral fellows, except where covered by collective bargaining agreement" from the plan to reduce salaries and/or issue furloughs. While it seems like this battle is won, we must not let down our guard. The University's Chief Negotiator stated at the table that it was too early to say for sure whether the University would propose to implement the salary reductions and/or furloughs for Postdocs anyway.

Just as it was crucial that the Union was certified to help prevent these cuts from falling on us, it is more important than ever to win a strong first contract that sets our wages, benefits, rights and work conditions in a legally binding manner that cannot be changed by UC without our agreement.

We will keep you informed of new developments. If you have questions or want to get more involved, please respond to this email or call 415-538-0844.

www.prouaw.org

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

June 26, 2009

Fellow Postdocs,

We have completed 3 more days of bargaining with UC Management. As you know, President Yudof has publicly proposed in his June 17 letter to the UC community pay cuts and/or furloughs for all UC employees, including Postdocs. President Yudof is proposing to raise this issue with the UC Regents on July 14 and 15. To be perfectly clear, wages and leaves are mandatory topics of bargaining. Since we have formed a union and are in contract negotiations, NO CHANGES CAN BE MADE TO POSTDOC TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF WORK WITHOUT BARGAINING THE CHANGES WITH PRO/UAW. This situation is exactly why it is so important that we have created our Union!

We reminded Management of their legal obligations to bargain over any salary cuts and furloughs and pointed out that such proposals would hurt the University's bottom line and mission. (See our update of 6/19/09.)

UC has informed us that they will not be able to make counter proposals on any economic topics, such as Wages, until after the July 15th meeting of the UC regents examining the cut/furlough proposals. Thus, we have scheduled 6 additional days of bargaining in July.

We appreciate your thoughtful comments and ideas recently regarding the cut/furlough plan. IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE CRITICAL for Postdocs to be engaged and ready to take action in the coming weeks to pressure the University to meet their obligation to bargain in good faith. With your continued support we will be able to conclude a strong first contract for the 6000 UC Postdocs.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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Proposed Salary Cuts Update

June 21, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

Many of you have seen and rasied concerns about President Yudof's message of June 17 announcing that he will ask the Regents to declare a Fiscal Emergency in July, and outlining three proposed methods for pay reductions and furloughs to achieve an 8% savings starting in August 2009.

We are informed by UC Office of the President that all Postdoctoral Scholars are included, at this time, in the group of employees targeted by President Yudof's pay reductions and/or furloughs.

We have informed the UC Office of the President, and will continue to do so, that taking any of these proposed actions with respect to Postdoctoral Scholars would likely be both unlawful and counterproductive in addressing the budgetary crisis UC is experiencing as a result of proposed budget cuts from the State of California.

The vast majority of Postdoctoral Scholars are paid from contracts and grants from funding agencies that are both unaffected by the California budget crisis, and also increasing dramatically with the Obama Administration's initiatives to expand significantly federal-government funding of scientific research.

The only effect of reducing the salaries of Postdoctoral Scholars would therefore be to reduce the amount of money available to UC -- making the budget crisis WORSE, not better. Moreover, Postdoctoral Scholars play a vital role in winning new grants and creating new inventions that generate more money for UC. Furloughing Postdoctoral Scholars would therefore decrease the amount of additional money UC would accumulate from new grants and patents -- making the budget crisis WORSE, not better.

We hope UC will see clearly how cutting Postdoc salaries or forcing Postdocs to take furloughs will only worsen the fiscal health of the institution. We also hope that instead UC will act in a manner consistent with the trend of rapidly increasing funding for scientific research and increase compensation for Postdocs. However, the UC administration's current inclusion of Postdocs in the group of employees targeted for salary cuts and/or furloughs only highlights the necessity of Postdocs acting together to win a strong first contract that is not only in our interests, but those of the University as well.

If you have further questions or would like to get involved in our campaign for a first contract, respond to this email, call our office at (415) 538-0844, or check our website at www.prouaw.org

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

June 12, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

After another three days of negotiations with the UC administration this week, the main obstacle to reaching agreement in a timely manner continues to be their unlawful stalling and delaying.

We gave the University our health insurance proposal a month ago. This week, we discovered that the University had not submitted the proposal to their insurance specialists to calculate how much it would cost. They had no explanation for why they failed to even start evaluating this important proposal.

Continued support and participation from you and thousands of Postdocs who have signed up for the Union, filled out bargaining surveys, and helped make clear to UC that we want a fair and fully arbitrable agreement soon has helped move the University closer to finishing contract bargaining. Thus, we did reach tentative agreement on more topics this week than in previous weeks: Parking and Transit, Personnel Files, Professional Development, Training, and Workspace and Materials. However, we still have many important topics to resolve. We are prepared to meet with the University for as much time as needed between now and the end of June to reach agreement on a strong first contract. Postdocs must remain prepared to stand together and take action in case the University refuses to stop its unproductive and unlawful practices.

If you would like to get involved in these efforts, please respond to this email, call our office at (415) 538-0844, or check our website www.prouaw.org.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

May 29, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We completed another 3 days of bargaining with the UC administration. Sadly, the administration's negotiators were at a loss to explain why they had still not delivered the basic health and safety information which they are required by law to give us (or any one of you) within 24 hours of the request. After over 4 months and many requests and complaints later we had no choice but to file complaints with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and bring 2 officers from OSHA to UCLA to demand some of the requested information. For reasons that we cannot understand, the administration would rather face many thousands of dollars in OSHA fines than provide us with some basic reports on information regarding safety for Postdocs at UC. Here is a new article addressing the negligence of the UC in health and safety regarding the tragic accident at UCLA.

We did reach tentative agreement on 3 minor topics (Travel Reimbursement, Titles and Classifications, and Successorship). This is encouraging in that we are finally getting some of these basic topics off of the table. It is unacceptable, however, that the UC administration is still failing to deal with most of the important issues, making it more difficult to finish negotiations by the end of June. They are, however, starting to feel the pressure of thousands of Postdocs who want a good contract done as soon as possible! We all must be ready to stand together and do whatever is necessary to stop the administration from continuing to engage in stalling, regressive bargaining, and other unlawful bargaining practices so that we can complete bargaining a successful first contract in a timely manner.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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Meetings about Bargaining and Winning a Strong First Contract

May 18, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

As we mentioned in our last update, members of the bargaining team will be holding meetings on the campuses to provide updates and address questions about the bargaining process. We also want to get input about how Postdocs can help stop the University from committing unfair labor practices so that we can reach agreement on a great first contract in a timely manner. The date, time, and location for the next meeting on your campus are below.

If you are interested in getting involved in our campaign for a historic first contract, please attend, get in touch with us at 415-538-0844, respond to this email, or check out our website www.prouaw.org .

UC Berkeley
Date: 7/6
Time: 12 - 1 PM
Location: 338 Koshland Hall on the Berkeley campus

UC Davis
Date: 5/21
Time: 4-5 pm
Location: Robbins Library, Robbins Hall 140 on the UC Davis campus

UC Irvine
Date: 5/26
Time: 12-1 PM
Location: Frederick Reines Hall (FRH) room 2139

UCLA
Date: 5/21
Time: 4-5pm
Location: University Religious Conference (URC), 900 Hilgard Avenue, room 311, Los Angeles

UC Riverside
Date: 5/22
Time: 12pm-1pm
Location: Batchelor Hall 2158

UC San Diego
Date: 6/4
Time: 1-2pm
Location: LGBT Resource Center conference room, between Mandeville Center and the original Student Center (near the Art of Espresso coffee cart) on the UCSD campus

UCSF
Date: 5/26
Time: 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Health Sciences West (HSW) 532

UC Santa Barbara
Date: 6/29
Time: 4 - 5 p.m.
Location: South Hall 4503

UC Santa Cruz
Date: 6/22
Time: 3-4pm
Location: Science and Engineering Library, room 309 on the Santa Cruz campus

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

May 15, 2009

Dear UC Postdocs,

We have completed another 3 days of bargaining with UC management.

To put a human face on the conditions that many of us face, three UCLA postdocs came to speak to the UC negotiators about their difficult experiences in the UC system. Two spoke about the hardships that resulted from the time restrictions and loss of wages due to the current UC policies for postdoc childbearing. Another spoke about the abusive and manipulative behavior of his former advisor, which brought to the forefront the current problems with the university's layoff and discipline policies. These stories highlight the importance of using this contract as an opportunity to improve the working conditions for all UC postdocs. Unfortunately, UC continues to make proposals that not only do not differ meaningfully from their previous ones, but seek only to maintain the current inadequate policies and conditions that cause the problems.

On the upside, last week many California representatives to the US Congress sent a letter to UC President Yudof and the UAW regional director urging us to finish negotiating a fair contract in a timely way. We have posted this exciting letter on our website.

Finally, we also wanted to let you know that we will be starting to hold campus meetings to answer questions about the bargaining process and get your input on how Postdocs can help stop UC from committing unfair labor practices so that we can reach agreement on a great first contract quickly. We'll send out more details to each campus soon.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

April 30, 2009

Dear UC Postdocs,

Yesterday we finished another 3 days of bargaining the first Postdoctoral Scholar contract with the University of California.

As during previous sessions, we traded a number of contract Articles, or sections, with the university. We were able to reach agreement on the Article for Non-Discrimination, which protects groups of people against poor treatment and harassment. Though we were able to come to full agreement with the University's language on two other proposals, the university refused to sign-off on them. This is more evidence of their desire to slow these negotiations. However, with three more Articles completed, we are moving toward being prepared to agree at the end of June.

During these meetings, two postdocs came to speak to the university committee about their bad experiences using leave after childbearing and handling discrimination due to their childcare responsibilities. These stories provide a powerful context for fixing many of the University's family-unfriendly policies in this contract. With your active support, we will be successful!

If you have questions, want to become more involved, and/or want to make sure that what is important to you is codified into the contract, please contact one of our representatives by replying to this message or calling our office, (415) 538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

April 17, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

The University continues to approach these negotiations in an unacceptably slow and unproductive manner. While bristling at being called one of the most anti-Union employers west of the Rocky Mountains, they did little this week to dispel that reputation. Not only are they refusing to bargain over several basic topics, such as Posting of open job opportunities and Protections against Workload Abuse, but they also appear to be merely going through the motions in crafting many of their proposals. For example, out of all the proposals they gave us in our bargaining sessions this week, a mere 1/4 of them had substantive changes from their previous proposals (otherwise, only the text was re-formatted, or "cleaned up", according to the University). On one proposal, the University regressed from their previous position. Additionally, the University steadfastly refuses to provide a progressive proposal on childbearing leave nor will they clearly and accurately explain their existing policies.

Despite these obstacles we are moving into a phase of negotiations in which your continued participation and support are becoming more important than ever. While the strong majority mandate and thousands of bargaining surveys you have filled out have helped us get to this point, your ongoing active support will be critical to moving us toward our historic first contract with the University. If you have questions, want to become more involved, and/or want to make sure that what is important to you is codified into the contract, please contact one of our representatives by replying to this message or calling our office (415) 538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

April 9, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs,

We have completed another round of bargaining with the University. We exchanged proposals on Appointment Rights, Nondiscrimination, Personnel Files and Assessments, Titles and Classifications, and Workspace and Materials. The University continues to dither and stall. For example, in response to questions regarding the lack of clarity in the Childbearing and Family Leave section of their proposed Leaves article, the University spent 6 hours trying to clarify their current proposal and were still unable to provide us with an explanation. And so, we did not reach any new agreements at this session.

Do not despair, oh Postdocs! Though the University's actions support their reputation as one of the most anti-union employers West of the Rocky Mountains, with your active support and participation, we will be able to come to a timely agreement that makes substantial improvements to the terms and conditions of Postdoctoral Scholar employment!

If you have questions, want to become more involved, and/or want to make sure that what is important to you is codified into the contract, please contact one of our representatives by replying to this message or calling our office (415) 538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

March 25, 2009

PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We completed another two-day session of negotiations with the University today.

We started with an agreement to a set of bargaining dates between now and June 26th with a total of 22 more days of bargaining. If we both bargain in good faith and work hard this should be sufficient time to reach a full agreement.

We traded proposals on many topics (Personnel Files, Appointment Rights, Titles and Classifications, Union Access and Rights, Union Security, Grievance and Arbitration, Holidays, Leaves and Vacation, Nondiscrimination, and Discipline and Dismissal) but did not reach agreement on any.

So far, the University still refuses even to propose neutral third party arbitration as the mechanism to enforce the terms we negotiate into our contract. In addition, they continue to bargain regressively over "Just Cause" under "Discipline and Dismissal" (see our last update e-mail for details at the union's website, link below).

UC has also failed to provide us with important health and safety information that we have requested, such as the CAL-OSHA 300 Logs. These are the documents that describe all serious health and safety incidents on each campus. UC is required by law to provide these documents within 24 hours of the request, which we made nearly 2 months ago. We have filed a formal complaint over the University's failure to provide this information.

We are scheduled to bargain again with UC on April 7 and 8, 2009. We will keep you apprised of new developments.

If you have questions, want to become more involved, and/or want to make sure that what is important to you is codified into the contract, please contact one of our representatives to fill out a bargaining or campus working conditions survey. Reply to this message, call our office (415) 538-0844, or visit our website: www.prouaw.org

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky

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PRO/UAW Strike Authorization Vote Results

March 20, 2009

Thank you to all of the Postdocs who voted in the strike authorization vote.

92% of Postdocs voting voted to authorize the bargaining team to call a strike in the event it deems it necessary and the circumstances warrant it, such as unfair labor practices by the University or the end of the impasse process.

If you have not yet filled out a bargaining survey and would like to do so, or if you would like to get involved in our efforts to win a successful contract, please respond to this email or call us at 415-538-0844. You may also find bargaining updates posted on our website: www.prouaw.org

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

March 11, 2009

PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We completed another two-day session of negotiations with the University last night.

We started with an agreement to a set of bargaining dates between now and June 26th with a total of 22 more days of bargaining. If we both bargain in good faith and work hard this should be sufficient time to reach a full agreement.

We traded proposals on many topics (Employment Evaluations, Appointment Rights, Employment Files, Grievance and Arbitration, Discipline and Dismissal, Personnel Files, Union Security, Workspace and Materials, Time Off, Union Access and Rights, Titles and Classifications) but did not reach agreement on any.

So far, UC is refusing to bargain on topics such as Job Posting (which deals with efficiently communicating, through one central web site, information about open and unfilled Postdoc positions). They say they won't even give us a proposal on this topic because they claim it would give rights under the contract to people who are not yet Postdocs. They make these claims despite the fact that we have pointed out that current Postdocs who may be looking to change jobs (because their funding is running out or they want to change research directions) would find such a web site very useful.

UC is also bargaining regressively in the area of Discipline and Dismissal (protections from being fired or otherwise disciplined unfairly). In their January 12 proposal, UC proposed the highest form of rights and protections in this area (known as Just Cause protections). Since then, however, none of their proposals include such protections, and instead have much weaker language in this critical area that so many Postdocs identified as really important on the bargaining survey.

We are scheduled to bargain again with UC on March 24 and 25. We will keep you apprised of new developments.

If you have questions, want to become more involved, and/or want to make sure that what is important to you is codified into the contract, please contact one of our representatives to fill out a bargaining or campus working conditions survey. Reply to this message, call our office (415) 538-0844, or visit our website: www.prouaw.org.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

February 26, 2009

To PRO/UAW Postdocs:

Yesterday we completed another bargaining session with the University.

We reached a tentative agreement on the "Recognition" article of the contract. This is the section of the contract that codifies the University's recognition of our Union as the exclusive bargaining representative for Postdocs at UC.

Over the course of two days of bargaining, we met for only 3.5 hours. Most of the remaining hours were wasted waiting for the University to prepare counter proposals to the proposals that we passed to them at the previous session. In one case they took back and tore up a proposal to us after admitting that it had been written without reading our previous proposal. Another proposal was lost when their computer "malfunctioned."

This pace of bargaining is unacceptably slow. We will be in touch with postdocs soon about ways that you can get involved in the process to help speed things up.

If you have questions, want to become more involved, and/or want to make sure that what is important to you is communicated to the bargaining team, please contact one of our representatives so you can fill out a bargaining or campus working conditions survey or get involved in other ways. Reply to this message, call our office (415) 538-0844, or visit the website: www.prouaw.org.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

February 19, 2009

On Tuesday, February 17th, and Wednesday February 18th, we engaged in the second session of negotiations for our first contract with the University. We presented the University with sixteen proposals; the University had no new proposals or counter-proposals to offer. On Tuesday, the University arrived one hour late and only met with us for 20 minutes. For our next meetings, on February 24th and 25th, the University said it will only try to have six counter-proposals. This pace is unacceptably slow.

While we are fighting to improve conditions for Postdocs, the University continues to cling to the status quo, which they acknowledge offers scant rights, compensation, and protections. For example, in response to our proposals to increase significantly job security and stability with multi-year guaranteed appointments, UC insists that Postdocs are "temporary" workers and subject to layoffs.

We will keep you updated regarding bargaining and continue to collect surveys and do other organizing. if you have questions, would like to fill out a bargaining or campus working conditions survey, or want to get more involved, please respond to this message or call 415-538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin
Pace Lubinsky

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PRO/UAW Bargaining Update

February 6, 2009

Dear PRO/UAW Postdocs:

We have just concluded our first face-to-face meeting with UC management on our groundbreaking first contract!

You can find more information about us at www.prouaw.org. We welcome your sincere comments and support. If you want to contribute more to our ongoing bargaining with UC management, please reply to this mail or contact us at 415-538-0844.

Based on bargaining surveys and campus working conditions, we provided the University with comprehensive proposals on nearly all non-economic bargaining topics, e.g., workload, health and safety, intellectual property rights. The comprehensive proposals expanded on the initial sunshine proposals, which are available at: http://www.prouaw.org/update/files/Sunshine_UAW.pdf and http://www.prouaw.org/update/files/Sunshine_UC.pdf.

The University also gave us their comprehensive proposals, which merely codify current terms and conditions of postdoc employment as generally described in the UC Academic Personnel Manual, section 390 (APM-390). The University did not propose improvements and in a few cases took away rights. On the bright side, we were able to agree on Groundrules for bargaining and on the Severability language of the contract. Severability provides that if any part of the contract is found to be illegal then that part only is struck and must be renegotiated.

We expressed our expectation to negotiate a fair and just contract in a timely and constructive manner. Historically, academic UAW first contracts have taken seven weeks to nine months to bargain. Based on the existing good relationship between the UC and UAW, we suggested that we should aim to reach agreement in three months. The University has yet to agree to a bargaining deadline.

As necessary to engage in constructive, informed bargaining, in December, the Union requested information from the University about the bargaining unit. Six weeks later, the university has only provided us with one of several items requested.

We will keep you updated regarding bargaining and continue to collect surveys and do other organizing. If you have questions, would like to fill out a bargaining or campus working conditions survey, or want to get more involved, please respond to this message or call 415-538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

Pace Lubinsky
Dil Kapadia
Oki O'Connor
Laura Bartley
Xiaoqing Cao
Kirill Afonin

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UCLA Laboratory Accident

January 30, 2009

It is with great sadness that we write to you about the recent death of Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji, a 23-year old research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on January 16, 2009. Sheri passed away after sustaining serious burn injuries in a laboratory fire last month. This is a tragic loss of a young, vigorous and promising life in our community and our deepest and heartfelt condolences go to her family and friends.

This tragic accident raises serious concerns about the lab safety and working conditions of Postdocs and other researchers at UC. As a result of this horrible incident, UCLA has announced that it is reviewing its lab safety protocols and inspecting lab conditions. The December 29 tragedy is under investigation by UCLA's Environment, Health and Safety Department, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA),the state fire marshal, and federal investigators. We are also looking into this incident. Postdocs and other researchers deserve a safe and healthy work environment. If you have any concerns regarding your working environment, please feel free to contact us by replying to this email or by phone at 415-538-0844.

You can find more information about us at www.prouaw.org. We welcome your sincere comments and support. If you want to contribute more to our ongoing bargaining with UC management, please reply to this mail or contact us at 415-538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

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Update on Initial Bargaining Proposals

January 20, 2009

Both the University's and the Union's initial bargaining proposals are now available on line on the PRO/UAW website: http://www.prouaw.org/update/update.php

On Tuesday, January 20th and Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009, the University and the Union will also present these initial bargaining proposals to the public. The presentation will take place from 1 pm to 3 pm 2009, at 300 Lakeside Drive #1206, Oakland, CA 94612.

We are continuing to survey Postdocs regarding their terms and conditions of employment. If you have not yet filled out a survey, are interested in attending one of these meetings, or have any questions or comments, please reply to this email or contact us at 415-538-0844.

We will also keep you informed of future developments and opportunities to continue to participate in the process.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

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Results of Proposal Ratification Election

December 19, 2008

We would like to thank all the Postdocs who took time from their busy schedules to participate in the ratification process this past week.

We are pleased to announce that an overwhelming 98% of Postdoctoral Scholars participating in the ratification vote voted "Yes" to ratify the initial bargaining proposals. The proposals are based on and inclusive of feedback from two rounds of bargaining surveys filled out by thousands of Postdocs at all 10 University of California campuses. Your support and participation was critical to drafting our initial proposals.

The next step will be to exchange proposals with the University in early January. After the initial proposals have been exchanged and made public the Union and the University will begin bargaining. Once we have reached an agreement with the University Postdocs will have an opportunity to vote to ratify that agreement.

As we progress through the bargaining process it will be important for Postdocs to continue to participate in the Union and build upon our majority mandate for a strong contract. If you have not yet filled out a bargaining survey, please contact us to do so by responding to this email or calling 415-538-0844; we will continue to need and use your input throughout the bargaining process. We will also keep you informed of future developments and opportunities to continue to participate in the process.

Should you have questions or would like to get more involved, please contact us by responding to this email or calling us at 415-538-0844.

In Solidarity,

The PRO/UAW Bargaining Team

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Notice of Initial Bargaining Proposals Ratification Election

December 8, 2008

All Postdoctoral Scholars at the University of California who have signed current union authorization cards may vote in the Ratification of Initial Bargaining Proposals Election.

All Postdocs who have signed current authorization cards at the time of the election are eligible to vote at their campus. Postdocs may sign up at the polling sites, and may also sign up any time prior to the election. Voting must be in person. There will be no absentee ballots.

Current authorization card signers will be able to meet and vote on the initial proposals at their campus meetings, and will also be able to vote at campus polling sites. At each campus meeting a bargaining team member will be present to answer questions regarding the initial bargaining proposals. The text of the proposals will be available at the meeting and at the ballot box.

See Meeting and Polling Information for: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, or Santa Cruz

Berkeley

Meeting Time: Monday, December 15th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: Koshland Hall, Room 338

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 to 10:00 am.
  • 10:30 am to 2:00 pm next to Evans Hall on the Hearst Mining Circle side on the Berkeley campus
  • 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm on the walkway between Pat Brown's Grill and the Biology Teaching Building on the Berkeley campus

Davis

Meeting Time: Thursday, December 18th, 2008, 9:30 am to 10:30 am
Meeting Location: Asmundson Hall, Room 242

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am
  • 11:00 am to 2:30 pm, in front of the Silo on Hutchison Drive on the Davis campus
  • 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm, at the Starbucks located at 2001 Stockton Street in Sacramento, at the Sacramento Medical Center

Irvine

Meeting Time: Thursday, December 18th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: Reines Hall 2139 (FRH)

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 2:00 pm, On Ring Road in front of Reines Hall (FRH) on the Irvine campus
  • 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm at the tables in front of the Tamkin Building in the Medical School on the Irvine campus

Los Angeles

Meeting Time: Wednesday, December 17th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: University Religious Conference Center, 900 Hilgard Avenue, Room 311, Los Angeles

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 2:00 pm, Outside Franz Hall, between the 1st and 2nd wings on the Los Angeles campus
  • 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm, in front of La Kretz Hall in the Court of Sciences on the Los Angeles campus

Merced

Meeting Time: Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Meeting Location: KL (Library) Room 397

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 11:00 am to 12:00
  • 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm at the front entrance of the Science and Engineering Building

Riverside

Meeting Time: Tuesday, December 16th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: Batchelor Hall, Room 2158

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, on the sidewalk on the West side of Weber Hall on the Riverside campus

San Diego

Meeting Time: Wednesday, December 17th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: The Bear Room in the Sun God Lounge (2nd floor of the Price Center)

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 2:00 pm at the tables next on the Muir College side of the Grove Cafe on the San Diego campus
  • 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm at the Snackropolis Cafe across from Ritter Hall at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography

San Francisco

Meeting Time: Thursday, December 18th, 2008, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: On the Parnassus Campus, HSW, Room 532

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 2:00 pm in front of the main entrance to the Kalmanovitz Library on the Parnassus Campus
  • 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm in front of the 4th street entrance to Rock Hall on the Mission Bay Campus

Santa Barbara

Meeting Time: Tuesday, December 16th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: South Hall, Room 4503

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 5:30 pm at The Arbor on the Santa Barbara campus

Santa Cruz

Meeting Time: Tuesday, December 16th, 2008, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Meeting Location: Room 332 Science and Engineering Library

Polling Locations:

  • At the Meeting, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
  • 10:30 am to 5:30 pm on the Science Quad Plaza between Sinsheimer Laboratories and the Science Library on the Santa Cruz campus

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PRO/UAW
Postdoctoral Researchers Organize / International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America.
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