August 5, 2004
University, unions continue ‘cooperative’ contract talks
University and union negotiating teams continue weekly bargaining sessions, according to Patti Carson, vice president for human resources, in an atmosphere of cooperation and commitment that is “evident to all involved.”
“These negotiations are complex, intense, and hard work for both teams,” said Carson. “We are bargaining now over subjects that were voted into law by the state Legislature in 2002 with the passage of the Personnel System Reform Act.”
The Reform Act, which becomes fully effective in July 2005, had the support of state employers and unions, and has three essential parts. First, under the terms of the act, wage negotiations occur directly between unions and their state employer, while negotiations to determine the employer’s contribution to health insurance occur at one statewide negotiating table. Prior to the Act, wages and benefits were determined by the Legislature.
Second, the act has a provision for competitive contracting of work. The steps necessary to do competitive contracting are considerable, and if the conditions are met, employees affected by the decision have the option of forming an employee business unit (EBU) to bid on the work.
Third, in modernizing work rules and conditions of a decades-old civil service system, new civil service rules are being developed and changes are being made to streamline a classification system of 2,400 individual job classes into significantly fewer broad-banded job categories. The new collective bargaining options provide the opportunity to negotiate regarding such items as hours of work, overtime, and performance that enable the employer to achieve the best possible work at costs that are competitive with other entities.
“The University is committed to exploring creative ideas and new directions in these discussions,” said Carson. She added that negotiations are taking place throughout the state and higher education institutions over the same range of issues being bargained by our teams.
“We’ve approached this process all along with clear objectives. We want to continue to improve in how we do our work, educate our students, care for our patients and serve our public,” Carson said. “Our employees are amazing people who do extraordinary work on behalf of the University and this community. As we work over the next six to seven weeks through conclusion of negotiations, we are committed to achieving fair and competitive compensation for our employees, being a good place to work and continuing efforts toward a long-term collaborative and constructive labor-management relationship.”
