The University of California announced today (Nov. 15, 2013) that UC's 350 librarians have ratified a five-year contract that includes a new salary structure, health benefits and other working conditions.
The agreement is the culmination of 18 months of negotiations between UC and the American Federation of Teachers, a union that represents about 1.5 million members nationwide.
This is the second labor agreement UC has finalized in the last four weeks. On Oct. 22, the Federated University Police Officers Association, representing 250 UC officers, also ratified a contract with the university.
"We are pleased to have reached a fair and financially sustainable agreement with our librarians, who play an important role in our academic mission," said Dwaine B. Duckett, UC vice president of human resources. "The issues in these negotiations were complex, but the university and the union worked diligently and collaboratively to reach these fair terms."
Earlier this year, UC and the librarians reached a separate agreement on post-employment benefits, in which the librarians agreed to the same pension changes that currently apply to 16 UC bargaining units and about 75,000 non-represented faculty and staff.
Like many employers, including the state of California, UC has adopted a series of prudent measures intended to protect its ability to provide quality retirement benefits to employees over the long term.
Highlights of the agreement ratified this month with librarians include:
- A new salary scale that provides wage adjustments averaging 2.7 percent across the salary scale, retroactive to Nov. 1, 2013; establishes uniformity in merit-based increases and gives the university greater flexibility in terms of salaries to recruit and retain quality librarians.
- Medical, dental and vision care at the same rates that the general UC employee population pays. The university will continue to cover the majority of health care costs.
- Revised language regarding temporary librarians that specifies when a temporary employee becomes a career librarian.