Mediation began today between the University of California and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to resolve an impasse declared in July.
The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) oversees the two-day mediation. AFSCME declared an impasse after the two parties could not reach an agreement during negotiations for the next contract.
AFSCME represents 31,000 service and patient care workers across the University system, which includes 10 campuses, six academic health centers and three national labs.
Negotiations for the new contract began in January. The contracts, one for each bargaining unit, have approximately 45 sections. Over the course of five months of bimonthly bargaining, UC made 26 proposals and 36 counter proposals. AFSCME made 42 proposals and three counter-proposals.
During the two-day confidential mediation, each party will work with a neutral mediator to reach an agreement that brings the sides closer together. If mediation is unsuccessful, the statutory impasse process proceeds to fact-finding.
"We are optimistic that mediation with AFSCME will foster good faith negotiations in order to reach a fair agreement that supports these critical employees," said Missy Matella, associate vice president for Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations. "Our goal in bargaining this year was to present our employees with substantial offers that showed these workers how much we value their services. We also wanted to provide meaningful offers that aligned with the union's interests, such as the $25 hourly wage and 5 percent wage increase, early in bargaining to promote substantive and productive negotiations. We are hopeful mediation will help further those goals."
Additional information:
- AFSCME info on UCNet, University of California's employee information center
- Frequently Asked Questions about Bargaining
- Press Release: UC offers AFSCME new wage and health care cost proposals
- Press Release: UC proposes 26% pay increase for AFSCME workers