UC officials announced Feb. 16 that UC clerical employees have ratified a new multi-year contract through Sept. 30, 2008. At UC Davis, 2,120 staff members belong to the Coalition of University Employees, which represents clerical employees.

Under the agreement, UC's clerical employees will receive wage increases of approximately 12 percent over the next three years contingent upon state funding, including a 3.5 percent increase retroactive to Oct. 1, 2005, when other UC employees received increases. UC's library assistants and other clerical employees will receive additional market equity increases for the first two years of the agreement to help address salary lags.

The agreement allows UC clerical employees to continue to receive the same level of health benefits given to all UC employees and maintains the university's salary-based approach to health care premiums whereby those who earn less, pay less for the same health coverage.

Irene Horgan-Thompson, director of compensation and benefits at UC Davis, cited the example of employees classified at the Assistant III level (step 6) who are paid $3,479 per month. Effective with the new contract, she wrote in an e-mail, their pay will increase by 3.5 percent effective Oct. 1, 2005 to $3,600 per month, she said. On Oct. 1, 2006, it would increase to $3,717 and finally on Oct. 1, 2007, their pay rate would be $3,884/month. Over the course of the contract their salary would increase from the current $3,479 to $3,884 or $405 per month, or 11.6 percent.

The new contract also prohibits the clerical employees' union from conducting any strikes against the university, including strikes in sympathy with other unions for the life of the agreement.

The contract was the fourth labor agreement ratified at UC in recent months. Since December, UC's nurses, librarians, and research support and technical employees have all ratified new multi-year contracts.

"We are pleased to have this agreement ratified and to finally be able to provide our clerical employees well-deserved salary increases," said Howard Pripas, UC executive director of labor relations. "This agreement helps the university with its goal of providing market-competitive total compensation to all UC employees."