2865 Bargaining Update 9/18/22

Over the last month, Academic Student Employees have begun to make progress on protections from Discrimination and Harassment and Union Rights. On August 16th, the University proposed a Non-Discrimination Article that addresses major concerns ASEs raised at the bargaining table. The University initially proposed delaying justice for survivors by forcing grievances into an indefinite pause while interminable Title IX investigations were resolved. Their proposal would have rolled back hard-won rights for survivors of discrimination and assault, and after months of negotiations, the University proposed a process that would guarantee justice for survivors. The team expects to resolve this article over the next few months, because while the University made this proposal, they did so in a package with Reasonable Accommodations and Access Needs that fall far short of the Disability Justice that ASEs are fighting for. 

Regarding Union Rights, ASEs have been pushing back since March against the University’s union-busting tactics. They proposed rolling back the rights that ASEs won twenty years ago to ensure that every Academic Student Employee would have the opportunity to join their Union when they began working at UC.  In the wake of a right-wing 2018 Supreme Court decision which, in 2018, brought “Right to Work” to the public sector, the University said that they wanted to end their obligations under the contract to ensure that every Academic Student Employee could join their union with their hiring paperwork. After months, the University reversed course and proposed what Academic Student Employees have been insisting on: a better process for distributing and collecting Membership Election Forms in our hiring paperwork. Again, the University’s proposal came in a package that would reduce ASE’s other Union Rights, including Grievance and Arbitration, or processes to resolve disputes. Thus, the Union rejected the package, but the University’s proposal marks major progress. 

You can check out the full tracker here to see where we are.