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To the Editor: 

In an Aug. 22 story, the university claims that next week's three-day strike by clerical and other employees would be “illegal.” The strike is legal because the university has repeatedly violated its legal commitments to do a number of things, such as the requirement to convert temporary workers into career employees after a certain period of time. 

As well, the university has illegally prematurely cut off negotiations, failed to give the clericals' union, the Coalition of University Employees, crucial information needed in bargaining, unilaterally changed terms and conditions of employment without bargaining with CUE, and broken a promise by denying clericals parking and transit subsidy improvements. There are many, many more of these types of violations. They have been filed with the Public Employment Relations Board, which will ultimately decide on their legality, but we in CUE know without a shred of uncertainty that the university is in gross violation of them. 

The story also repeats UC's claim that “the university is offering a 2 percent raise for 2001-2002.” The university is not “offering” any such thing. The university is already paying clerical employees 1 percent of that raise, which was negotiated in the last contract round. It is not currently on the table; it is not being bargained over and it is not an issue in the current dispute. It is, however, a wedge that the university trots out and tries to use to make CUE look somehow dishonest by giving the appearance of a disagreement over facts and figures. 

The reality is that, in the face of inflation, particularly in housing costs, clerical workers' buying power continues to decline while the university offers up to 25 percent raises to administrators making six-figure salaries. Clericals face longer commutes as they are forced to seek housing further away from the Berkeley campus, many are forced to get second jobs, and some are on food stamps. 

The university has, for the first time in my memory of 27 years as a campus employee, rescinded the promise that is made to every entering clerical employee, that with satisfactory employee evaluations, they become eligible for “step” increases until the top of the salary range for the employees' position is reached. In previous budget “crunches” these step increases have been merely delayed. Never have they been cancelled. It is particularly galling that in the last contract round a sixth step was added to the existing five, and now the university says that for two years in a row, clerical employees will not get *any* step increases. This amounts to a take-away. 

The disrespect and dishonesty being shown by UC towards its clerical workers is beyond belief. It is why clerical turnover is 54 percent annually, why clerical positions have gone unfilled, sometimes for years. And as a result of an inability to recruit and the state-mandated “Tidal Wave II” increase in Berkeley campus enrollment, clericals are suffering form a monstrous increase in workload. 

The result of all this is that we clericals have had enough. A strike is the only way to make the university notice that conditions have become unbearable for us. I urge all members of the Berkeley and campus community to remain off the campus Aug. 26-28. Instead, join our picket lines. 

Alan Collin 

UC Berkeley