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University lecturers and clerical workers are setting plans for a strike that could disrupt the start of UC Berkeley’s fall semester. 

At an Aug. 21 rally at Sprawl Plaza, unions representing the UC employees are expected to announce an official strike date of some time in the first two weeks of the semester, according to Nora Foster, co-chair of a group aligned with CUE, which represents clerical workers. 

A walkout by 633 lecturers, which union officials say constitute more than half of full-time university instructors, and 2100 clerical workers, who are administrative assistants, library assistants and police operators, could leave the university scrambling to provide services. 

For the past year, union officials and university officials have been in negotiations over salary and job security issues. The possible strike represents their failure to reach an agreement. 

“If lecturers, who teach the majority of classes and clerical workers, who register all the students don’t do their jobs on the first two weeks of school, I don’t see how the university can operate well,” said Michael Eisencher, Director of Organizational Development for the American Federation of Teachers, which represents the lecturers. 

The university is prepared for a strike, said Debra Harrington, UC Berkeley’s manager of labor relations. 

“We will be concerned about disruption,” she said, but added that the university could cope with a strike. She noted that during a 1998 strike by the 1,800 member graduate student union, the university maintained its normal class schedule.  

The unions representing lecturers and clerical workers must still clear a legal hurdle before they can engage in a prolonged work stop. 

California labor law requires that parties in collective bargaining go through four stages of negotiations before the union can legally call a strike. Neither of the unions has gone through the four phases. 

But the unions are trying to work around the labor law. A lawsuit that they have filed with the Public Employees Labor Relation Board could give them the legal right they need to strike. 

The unions are alleging that the university has withheld information from the union during bargaining as well as bargained without an appropriate representative. If the labor board finds in favor of the unions, a strike would be considered legal. 

The clerical workers and university are “very far apart,” said Margy Wilkenson, Chief Negotiator for CUE. The union is asking for a 15 percent raise over a two-year contract. The university has offered a 2.5 percent raise over the same period.  

The university cannot raise its offer due to state budget cuts, said Harrington.  

Clerical workers, who have been without a contract since last fall, say they are drastically underpaid. 

“UC library assistants earn 30 percent less than Alameda County assistants,” said Foster, who added that clerical workers face increasing health insurance premiums and did not get a cost-of-living raise last year. 

Lecturers say job security and pay are their two chief concerns. Presently, lecturers must accept one year contracts. Only after their sixth year are they eligible for more secure three-year contracts. 

The average lecturer income is $40,000 according to Eisencher, which he said is less than half the salary of tenured professors. Eisencher also accused the university of purposely releasing lecturers when they become eligible for the three-year contract. 

Harrington said the university recently offered the lecturers increased job security, but that has not bridged the gap. 

“Unless the university makes significant progress, we’re going to be at an impasse,” Eisencher said. 

The university and lecturers are scheduled to meet with a state appointed mediator Sept. 5. 

Union officials were vague about whether they would be supported by other university employees if they go on strike. 

“All [other] unions have said they will do whatever they could to support the workers,” said Eisencher. However, contracted union employees are forbidden from holding sympathy strikes. 

The unions have already petitioned the Alameda Central Labor Council, comprised of local union chapters, for a strike sanction. If granted, local union workers, such as UPS delivery workers and construction workers would refuse to do business with UC Berkeley. 

Harrington said the university has been the target of strike sanctions before and that contingency plans have got them through the difficult times.