SHARE held back-to-back lunchtime member meetings on Wednesday, July 15. Below is what we talked about. If you have questions or want more detail, please reach out to your local rep, staff organizer, or email us at share.umms@theshareunion.org.
Agenda
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2. Meeting August 4 for dues-paying SHARE members to vote on 2 issues. See previous post for details.
3. Raises for non-union employees: Managers were recently informed by email that non-union employees are not getting the usual raise in July. UMass still hopes to be able to provide raises this year, and the question will be looked at again with the finalizing of the budget. UMass Chan is continuing to have financial stresses, and the budget will not be finalized until September. So it’s not “no raises” but it is “no raises yet” for our non-union coworkers.
4. Raises for SHARE members: The SHARE negotiating team is still in talks with the management negotiating team about raises for SHARE members. Two weeks ago we got a wage proposal that included a step raise pay system for the first time. This is important progress! There are still some aspects of the system that need to be decided on, and those decisions will make the difference between a pay system that helps SHARE members make real economic progress over time, and a pay system that looks different but does not address the problems of the current system.
This week, SHARE made a counter-proposal. Next week, we will hear management’s response to our proposal. We look forward to a constructive dialog.
What are the concerns?
A step raise system has 2 raises each year: an across-the-board raise like the usual July raise, and a step increase (usually on your anniversary date.) There are a few issues that are crucial for us to deal with:
How big are the step raises? Do they give us equity with other groups?
How high are the grade maxes? Are some people going to get “stuck” at max?
How do we deal with the inevitable inequality of placing employee pay rates on the steps in the first year?
The first two questions are fairly straightforward. The third one is more complicated and needs a little explanation.
The first year of the contract
Once a step raise system is in place, it pretty much runs itself. Each year, you get an across the board raise, and also move up another step, farther through the grade. Every 3 years or so we negotiate the across the board raises for the next contract. Simple.
But in the current system, pay rates are spread throughout the grade. The first year of the contract will involve putting everyone’s pay rate at a step rate. And that causes inequalities. If I am 60 cents below the next step, I will get a 60 cent raise to put me on a step. But if I am 10 cents below the next step rate, I will get a 10 cent raise. My raise in the first year depends on a pretty random factor, which doesn’t feel fair.
One way to offset this unavoidable problem is with a bonus for people who get a smaller raise. We are also looking at other ideas. All the ideas are expensive, and the more expensive, the harder they will be to get UMass to agree to. The good news is that if we can figure out the first year, the raises will be better than we have ever had in the 2nd year, and 3rd year, and on into the future.
We will continue negotiating about this and keep you posted.
Questions? Let us know!