As universities and colleges nationwide prepare to welcome students back to campus, some facilities teams are in the midst of contract negotiations.
Here’s a look at some recent and ongoing labor negotiations related to higher education service and trades workers.
Cornell University
Over 1,000 employees represented by the United Auto Workers went on strike at Cornell University on Sunday, saying the university has “failed to present a fair package and not bargained in good faith.”
Last Thursday, UAW announced that 94% of Cornell workers represented by the union — including more than 1,200 custodians, groundskeepers, cooks, food service workers, greenhouse workers, gardeners and mechanics — voted to strike, if necessary. The union’s labor contract with Cornell University expired on June 30, UAW said.
After months of previous negotiations failed to result in a proposal that could be agreed upon, union officials have threatened to strike on Aug. 19, Cornell’s new-student move-in day, if the university doesn’t meet them at the bargaining table. If workers do strike, it would be “the first time in decades,” the Ithaca Voice reported.
Despite agreeing on a number of key issues of concern to the bargaining unit, including health and personal leave, vacation consistent with university policy and health and safety, the two parties have not yet reached a new agreement, Cornell Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Christine Lovely said in a statement Friday.
The university’s latest offer to the UAW includes a 6% wage increase in the first year, with additional increases in each of the additional proposed years, and changes to wage rates based on years of service. Taken together, this would result in wage increases of at least 10% for more than half of the bargaining unit, Lovely said.
The offer also includes reduced time for new employees to reach the job rate for their positions, from three years to one year; bonuses for longevity of employees at five and 15 years of service; an increased wage for the most senior employees at 10 and 25 years of service; increased clothing and shoe allowances; increased pay rates for employees providing peer-to-peer on-the-job training; increased eligibility for shift differential; and support for tipped employees with retirement savings, per Lovely’s statement.
The average worker in the bargaining unit makes about $22 an hour, with most of the university making less than that, according to UAW. The union is seeking a contract that includes wage increases of 25% to 30% over the next four years, as well as cost-of-living adjustments that would increase workers’ compensation alongside inflation, the Ithaca Voice reported. Union representatives said they came down from 45% to a 25% increase over the four-year contract, with a 10% increase in the first year, while Cornell has raised its offer from a 18.5% increase over five years to 17.5% over four years, according to the Ithaca Voice.
Furthermore, UAW Local 2300 recently filed seven separate unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Cornell University, citing violations of workers’ rights and federal labor laws amid ongoing contract negotiations, it said in a statement Friday.
Lovely noted that Cornell University is aware of the UAW’s vote to authorize a strike. The university respects employees’ right to make such a decision, Lovely said, and it has contingency plans in place to maintain essential services.
University of Rochester
Members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 158 approved the University of Rochester’s final offer in a 177-to-76 vote Friday, despite the university’s disapproval of a new contract earlier in the week, WHEC reported. The union local, which covers more than 300 skilled trades staff who service and maintain university campus facilities, had stated plans to strike during move-in days on Monday and Tuesday if they were unable to reach an agreement with the institution, Spectrum Local News 1 reported.
While the two sides were able to reach an agreement, “neither side walks away with every single person being happy,” the union local said in a statement. “It’s [a] tug of war the whole way, but at the end of the day [the University of Rochester] heard what we were saying and ultimately made some big moves to get this done together,” the union local said.
“After months of negotiations, the University of Rochester and IUOE have reached agreement on a multiyear contract renewal, which today was ratified by union members,” Sara Miller, a spokesperson for the University of Rochester, said in a statement.
Teamsters secure contracts at Penn State, UC Irvine
Two locals of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters representing higher education facilities service workers recently voted to ratify collective bargaining agreements, with Local 8 and Local 2010, coming to terms with Penn State University and the University of California at Irvine, respectively.
Local 8 says it covers about 2,500 employees at Penn State, including custodial service, food service, housing service, trades, transportation and emergency medical response workers at University Park and more than 20 other campuses across Pennsylvania. The new four-year contract, which is retroactive to July 1, includes a 20% wage increase over the life of the agreement, increased shift differentials and on-call pay, improved language for paid leave, defined work schedules and two additional paid holidays on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, the union local said in a July 26 news release.
Local 2010, which covers 18,000 higher education workers in California, announced July 26 that its members have “overwhelmingly ratified” a collective bargaining agreement with University of California at Irvine. The agreement includes “significant compensation increases, including 18.5% in average rises over the life of the three-year agreement,” according to a news release from Local 2010. The new contract also contains language improvements, including daily overtime and increases in on-call pay.
“These gains are the direct result of our hard work building a strong union that has shown that our members are united and ready to do whatever it takes — up to and including going on strike — to win the fair contracts we deserve,” Jason Rabinowitz, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010, said in a statement
The win comes in the wake of successful strikes by skilled trades members at California State University in January, which resulted in the “strongest contract in the bargaining unit’s history,” the union local said.
Effective Oct. 1, California State University Skilled Trades Teamsters will receive average salary raises of over 6.5%, following “more than a year of tough negotiations with CSU, organizing countless member actions, initiating two separate strikes across the state, and enduring a subsequent five-day strike,” Local 2010 said in the release.
Skilled Trades workers represented by Local 2010 at five other University of California campuses will also receive 4% to 5% raises across the board, effective in July, on top of raises in prior years of their contracts, Local 2010 said.
“Next year, most of our contracts will be up for negotiation,” Rabinowitz said. “Our members continue to stand together as a powerful union, gearing up for the fights ahead to build on what we have achieved.”
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