On Monday, June 8 our Skilled Trade Bargaining Team met again with UCLA. UCLA yet again failed to provide a response to our proposal on insurance caps, say they are waiting on word from UCOP, then proposed an insultingly low wage proposal that increases their years 2 and 3 raises by only 0.25% each. That brought their total wage proposal to 4.5% in the first year of the contract, then 3.5%, 3.5%, 3%, and 3%.
Our team told UCLA that we couldn’t provide a response to this abysmal offer without information on UCLA’s proposed healthcare premium caps. We must be able to protect workers from arbitrary hikes to healthcare costs that, without caps, will dwarf any salary increases we might win.
Despite repeat promises from UCLA that they respect our bargaining unit, our work, and our contract, UCLA continues to treat Skilled Trades workers differently from every other UCLA unit. They claim they can’t provide us the wages and benefits they already offer to other, larger units, and we refuse to be quiet about it. On Friday, June 12—Student Move Out Day—we held a lunchtime action to show UCLA that Skilled Trades members are ready to fight, and take further action, if UCLA continues to offer wages and benefits proposals that are so out of step with what our coworkers currently enjoy.
We refuse to be ignored any longer!
“UCLA relies on our work as Skilled Trades Teamsters every day but continues to offer us a fraction of what they give to our fellow workers. UCLA needs to come back to the table with serious proposals on healthcare caps and wages and listen to the needs of Skilled Trades workers!”
Jesus Manzo
Bargaining Team Member, On-Campus Housing
Articles proposed by UCLA:
- Article 45: Wages
