UC Merced clerical and support workers demand increased pay in next deal

A group of administrative, clerical and support workers from UC Merced picketed outside the campus entrance Tuesday, the first official day of the spring semester.

Those office workers are among nearly 100 UC Merced employees represented by Teamsters Local 2010, according to union representatives. About 15 picketers wearing plastic ponchos on a rainy morning stood on Lake Road holding signs that read, “UC: Pay us enough to live.”

“We’re just hardworking people looking for a fair wage proposal from the UC,” Liz Bartley, a UC Merced administrative assistant, said. “That’s all we want.”

The approximately 12,000 administrative, clerical and support workers from across the University of California who are represented by Teamsters Local 2010 were expected to join the strike, according to a Teamsters news release.

The union accuses the university of failing to bargain in good faith and unlawfully delaying bargaining. It said skilled trade workers were paid less than the prevailing wages in the area by as much as $10 and have not received a raise in more than four years.

The UC system Office of the President issued a statement, saying “under California law, while negotiations continue, a strike is presumed to be unlawful. A strike is also counterproductive to negotiations.”

The UC system’s offer carries an average pay raise of 18 percent during the next six years as well as health care benefits and retirement options, the statement said.

UC clerical employees earn an annual average salary of $47,300, which is more than the state average of roughly $39,200, the statement said. “We believe our proposals fairly recognize the skills and contributions of our clerical staff,” the statement said.

Protesters outside the campus described clerical workers as the “glue” and the “bones” of the university, noting the large contracts paid out to administrators.

At UC Merced, administrators are the highest paid, according to a public database of detailed payroll information for employees.

UC Merced’s top earners are Chancellor Dorothy Leland ($342,166), Provost Thomas Peterson ($306,210), Vice Chancellor for Planning and Budget Daniel Feitelberg ($283,962), Director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute Roger Bales ($262,478) and Dean of the School of Natural Sciences Juan Meza ($253,024).

The union announced that the strike by skilled trade workers began at midnight Thursday on the UCLA campus and expanded Tuesday to include all 10 University of California campuses, five medical centers and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 4:07 PM with the headline "UC Merced clerical and support workers demand increased pay in next deal."