PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 24, No. 18, April 7, 2005

Clerical workers reach tentative settlement

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
217-244-1072; slforres@uiuc.edu

Click photo to enlarge Photo by Kwame Ross Agreement reached Dorinda Miller, a staff clerk in the department of natural resources and environmental sciences, is president of AFL/CIO Local 3700, which represents about 1,650 clerical workers at the university.

Representatives of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO Local 3700, and the UI reached a tentative agreement in their March 22 mediation session.

The union, which represents approximately 1,650 clerical workers at the Urbana campus and in UI Extension offices around the state, had been working without a contract since the most recent agreement expired at midnight on Aug. 28, 2004.

Details of the proposed settlement were not being disclosed until the union received and reviewed the written proposal and presented it to the union’s members for a vote, which was expected to happen sometime around April 7, said Dorinda Miller, president of Local 3700 and a staff clerk in the department of natural resources and environmental sciences.

“With the economic situation the way it is, I think both sides gave a little to get to a settlement,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s what either side totally wanted, but it’s acceptable, at least that’s the way we are going to present it to our membership – it’s an acceptable proposal.”

Robin Kaler, interim associate chancellor for public affairs, said, “We’re very happy to have found a way to show some very valued employees that we want to do as much as we can for them, and we’re glad that they recognize that.”

Disagreement over wage increases was the primary holdup in the negotiations, which had gone on for nearly 11 months. Union members were particularly concerned about a proposal to eliminate their annual “step increases”– 2 percent or 4 percent increases that the workers received each year on their work anniversary dates – in future contract years, Miller said.

The clerical workers’ wage system comprises 20 steps – or annual wage increases – for them to reach the top of their pay scale, and, historically, annual step increases have been funded by the colleges and departments from their own resources. In addition, the workers also received across-the-board wage increases annually, which were funded by the campus through state appropriations or internal reallocations. Under the campus salary program, which is administered by the provost, employees received 3 percent increases the past two years.

Other bargaining units that negotiated new contracts with the university during the past year agreed to accept wage increases at or near 3 percent for FY05 and the campus salary program during FY06 and FY07.

A 21 percent reduction in the university’s state appropriations during the past three fiscal years – and no new money for wage increases expected in the near future – has put mounting pressure on campus units to find ways to fund the step increases, according to campus officials. Some unit heads have indicated that they would have to cut staff or programs unless the step system were eliminated or modified to make the increases more consistent with the campus program.

“The clerical workers are valued members of the team,” Kaler said, “It’s just that we can’t promise them money that we don’t have.”

The clerical workers believe that they have increased their value to the campus because they have expanded their skills in learning the new Banner system and because many of them took on additional responsibilities when about 200 clerical positions on campus were eliminated in recent years through budgetary cuts and administrative reorganization, Miller said.

“One thing that’s of concern to us is that our union is probably 98 percent women,” Miller said. “And when we look at what our employees make in comparison to the other 16 bargaining units, the clericals ranked fourth from the bottom. We just want to be treated fairly.”

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