Unions + Represented Employees

After a union is elected to represent a collective bargaining unit, the University and the union engage in a negotiation process to reach an agreement (or contract) on the terms and conditions of employment for represented members of the unit. Every agreement has a duration period, meaning that the agreement expires after a specific date and the parties have to negotiate a new agreement. This next negotiation process is called "successor" bargaining because the parties are negotiating for an agreement that will succeed the current one. In some cases, agreement includes a provision called "re-openers." This means that the parties have agreed that they will re-negotiate only certain portions, or Articles, even though the agreement does not expire until a future date.

You can find out more about the processes for elections, decertifications and the history of collective bargaining in the FAQ's on the UCOP Labor Relations Web site.

No employee is ever obligated to strike. Unions are legally prohibited from threatening or coercing members in other ways to keep them from coming to work. Some unions can fine dues-paying members (but not non-members) for working during a strike. A union member who does not want to strike may contact her/his union directly to inquire about possible fines. UC will not deduct fines from an employee’s paycheck.

You will not be paid if you fail to report for work as scheduled.  In additions, your benefits may be affected depending on the percentage of time worked in a particular pay period.  Please refer to the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

If an employee does not report to work as assigned during a strike, UC will presume — absent prior authorization or medical certification — that her/his work absence during a strike period is strike related. Employees who are absent from work without authorization during a strike will not be paid for the absence. As is always the case, authorization for an absence from work (e.g., vacation leave or compensatory time) may or may not be granted, depending on operational necessity and without regard to the employee's reason for the requested leave.

Some of the staff positions at the University of California, based on job title classification, are organized into collective bargaining units that are exclusively represented by a union or employee organization. California's Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) gives UC employees the right to decide whether or not they want to unionize and have collective bargaining as the sole means of determining their wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.  There are thirteen collective bargaining units (CBU) on the UC Santa Barbara campus.  More information about HEERA and the collective bargaining process is available on the Office of the President’s collective bargaining web pages and at the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) web site.  PERB is the state agency responsible for oversight of HEERA and the collective bargaining process between the University and employee organizations/unions representing our employees.

When you were hired, your hiring supervisor or the employment recruiter should have informed you if your position is part of a collective bargaining unit and represented by a union.  If you are uncertain, please ask your supervisor, department personnel coordinator or business officer.  You can also search the Salary Scales by job title classification to determine representation.  The Salary Scales indicate whether a job title classification falls into a specific unit by code. (The campus often uses these codes as an informal reference for the bargaining units, e.g, CX, SX, TX)

If a position is not represented by a union, the job title/position is non-exclusively represented (often referred to by the code "99") and is covered by  Personnel Policies for Staff Members.

Go to UCNet FAQs

https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/labor/faq.html

California's Higher Education Employee Employer Relations Act (HEERA) is the law passed by the California State Legislature that governs labor relations between public institutions of higher education and their employees.  HEERA gives UC employees the right to decide whether or not they want to unionize and have collective bargaining as the sole means of determining their wages, hours and working conditions.

The State of California's Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) is the administrative agency charged with implementing and overseeing the provisions of HEERA. PERB makes determinations about which units are appropriate for collective bargaining; conducts elections to determine whether employees in a given unit want to be unionized and engage in collective bargaining; and investigates, holds hearings, and makes decisions on whether or not unfair labor practices have been committed. 

Collective bargaining is a bilateral decision-making process involving direct negotiations, in which the University and the exclusive representative of the employees (usually called a “union”) determine wages, hours of work and other terms and conditions of employment for all employees in the bargaining unit. 

During this process, the parties meet and exchange proposals and counter-proposals.  Pursuant to the Higher Education Employer Employee Relations Act (HEERA), the parties are required to meet and negotiate in good faith (fairly consider the proposals of the opposing side and not dismiss them outright) and prohibits the parties from engaging in regressive bargaining (making their proposals or counter-proposals worse than prior proposals).  

Collective bargaining agreement, union contract and memorandum of understanding (MOU) are all terms that refer to a written, mutually binding agreement that results from direct negotiations between the University and the exclusive representative for a group of employees.  The agreement, contract or MOU sets wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment for an agreed-upon period of time.