Wear it EVERY Wednesday! Hats, Masks, and T-Shirts!
Last week, our Teamsters Skilled Trade bargaining team submitted our Vacation and Sick Leave proposals to UCI. We proposed that employees be able to use up to 60 days of sick leave for illness and disability (like non-rep employees) and 80 hours for bereavement leave. We also proposed that Kin Care language be added to the contract which allows employees to use half of their yearly allotment of sick time for family illness.
UCI accepted proposed changes to the Grievances Procedure article and to our Safety articles. UCI agreed to provide other appropriate safety training based on operational needs and legal requirements, and for applicable positions the University will provide N95 fit tests as required by law.
Our managers rejected our Parking proposal which capped increases and encouraged employees use of electronic vehicles by providing electric cars with four hours of free electricity a day. Despite this, President Drake has said: “UC stands ready to advance the federal government’s efforts against climate change,” and UCLA is providing free electricity. UCI, are you listening?
In response to our proposal on Training and Development which would allow employees to take the same amount of time for career development as non-rep employees, UCI told us that each department had to take a 5% budget cut in 2020 and they couldn’t afford it. Hmmmm.
State and Federal Funding
The State Budget includes a 5% base budget increase for the UCs as well as a complete restoration of the reductions in the 2020 Budget Act. UC’s ongoing General Fund will increase by $545.9 million.
In addition to increases in State Funding for UC campuses, UCI received $187,237,960 in total federal aid, with $102,621,776.20 of that available to address COVID-19 impacts on university operations
The UC Regents also approved its first significant tuition increase in a decade and set a course to continue raising fees every year for the next five years. This will generate more than $1.9 billion in gross revenue across the UC of which more than $1.1 billion is available for purposes other than student financial aid.
Our Next Union Meeting on Campus will be Tuesday, Sept 21. Save the Date!
Bargaining Team
Brian Maloney
Martin Hernandez
Steve Huerta
Eric Kuder
Gabriel Zamora