Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 16:54:22 -0600 (CST)

From: Michael Everett <ia728@primenet.com>

To: undisclosed-recipients: ;

Subject: Calif: Still No Agreement Between UC, Academic Student Employees

FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, January 21, 1999

Forty-Five Day Cooling Off Period for UAW and University of California Ends -- No Agreement Reached

BERKELEY, CA. UAW academic student employee (ASE) unions at the University of California (UC) announced today that direct negotiations between bargainers for the union and UC during a 45 day cooling off period have not produced an agreement. The cooling off period, which began last December 7 and ended yesterday, was arranged by State Senate President, Pro Tem, John Burton and Assembly Speaker, Antonio Villaraigosa. Union leaders agreed to recess a system-wide strike by ASEs in a good faith commitment that talks during the cooling off period might resolve the issue of recognition for UC teaching assistants.

The strike was called to secure collective bargaining rights for teaching assistants at UC. A majority of 9,000 ASEs at all eight UC teaching campuses have chosen union representation as verified by the state labor board.

"Unfortunately," said, Ricardo Ochoa, President of the Association of Graduate Student Employees/UAW Local 2165 at UC Berkeley, "the University has failed to address in any meaningful way the single issue over which the strike was called -- recognition of teaching assistants. As a result, we can only conclude that UC remains wedded to its previous pattern of stonewalling in opposition to recognition for teaching assistants.

"In response," said AGSE/UAW member Scott Prudham, "we will be meeting with our members to determine the most effective time to resume our strike."

"We urge the Legislature to aggressively intervene with University officials before they again place undergraduate education at risk," said Connie Razza member of the Student Association of Graduate Employees/UAW at UCLA.

UC's refusal to address the issue of recognition for TAs during the recent talks is made all the more outrageous in light of a December ruling by the state Public Employment Relations Board. PERB's ruling upheld an earlier decision that teaching assistants, readers, and tutors have bargaining rights under existing state employment law. As a result of that decision, and UC's refusal to recognize the union, PERB has recently ordered a representation election March 9-11, 1999 for ASEs -- including teaching assistants -- at UCLA.

UC, however, asserts that extraordinary court review of this decision is necessary based on what it alleges is a conflicting precedent from a 1992 Court of Appeals ruling at Berkeley. However, in an April 1998 ruling at UC San Diego, PERB dismissed this argument. Burton and Villaraigosa highlighted this point last month in a letter to UC President Richard Atkinson: "It is disingenuous to rely on an outdated Berkeley ruling, based on 1984 evidence. The most recent rulings are in favor of recognition for teaching assistants, readers, and tutors."

Commenting on the University^Òs legalistic maneuvering, UAW Vice President Elizabeth Bunn who heads the union^Òs Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department, observed, "last April, UC failed to get court review of the PERB ruling at UC San Diego."

Now, Bunn continued, rather than comply with a ruling the University sought but which went against them -- they still refuse to bargain. In that context, UCs application for court review in the Los Angeles case can only be seen as a subterfuge designed to cover their continued lawbreaking. Thats offensive not only to the spirit and letter of the law but to UCs role as an exemplary institution of higher learning.

Noting that the effort to win union recognition has now entered its sixteenth year, Marty Otanez, a member of the Student workers Union/UAW at UC Irvine said, UC has done it again. Its failure to settle the issue of recognition for TAs has renewed our resolve and increased the likelihood of the disruption of undergraduate classes throughout the UC system.

Press Contacts:

Scott Prudham, AGSE/UAW Berkeley 510-549-3863

Mike Miller, SAGE/UAW Los Angeles 510-549-3863 on 1/21/99;

310-208-2429

on 1/22/99

Frank Joyce, UAW 313-926-5297