Kevin Klaus

Yesterday in front of the Harvill building, civil engineer graduate student Song Xing (right) reads an informational sheet from Joe Bernick about forming a union. If formed, the union would be the largest in Tucson, and possibly the largest in Arizona.

Friday August 24, 2001 |

Peer school handled unionization poorly, state regents worried

While UA faculty and staff are seeking a unionization of employees on campus, ABOR wants to examine employee complaints a little more closely.

A group of University of Arizona employees formed the UA Organizing Committee over the summer to focus on the need for a workers' union to handle promises made to employees on which some committee members say the university has fallen short.

"We've been asking faculty, staff, TAs, RAs and student workers about the idea of a being represented by a union," said committee chair Jeff Imig. "The response from thousands of people we spoke with has been overwhelmingly positive."

Imig said there was no specific incident that ignited the drive to form a "wall-to-wall" union, one that would cover every UA employee with the exception of those that rank as department heads or higher. He said one reason he and others feel a union is necessary stems from salary comparisons between UA faculty members to that of faculty at other schools. He said the salary of a UA faculty member on average is 40 percent lower than other peer institutions.

Imig also voiced concern for lower-ranking staff.

"The university's blue-collar workers make an average of $6,000 less than other schools, and student workers get no benefits at all," Imig said.

UA faculty who have joined the drive for a union are concerned about employee workload, which they say seems to increase yearly.

"The new curriculum of the university called for only 150 students to a class but enrollment for one of my classes this year is at about 300," said history professor Laura Tabili. "The new ILC (Integrated Learning Center) has auditoriums that seat well over 150 students."

The Arizona Board of Regents has not turned away from the idea of looking at the concerns of UA faculty and staff, but is worried about how actions taken by other universities might affect the UA.

"A group of TAs at the University of Washington went on strike," said Matt Ortega, spokesman for ABOR. "Did that do the undergraduate students any good?"

UW officials explained that when a group of TAs from the university's humanities and English departments went on strike during the final exam week of spring semester, many students did not receive a letter grade or any credit at all.

"Many students either received a credit or no credit on their transcripts but no grade," said Bob Roseth, UW director of news and information. "This was a problem for kids who needed to get a higher GPA."

Imig said although this isn't the first time a union proposal has been made, a group of TAs at the UA has helped fuel the current drive.

"We learned from the group of TAs who confronted the Board of Regents to get as many people as we could behind us," he said. "We're trying to get everyone on the UA payroll to join us."

Officials at ABOR stated that UA TAs have packed the auditorium when meetings occur in Tucson.

"At one meeting we had 200 to 300 TAs in the audience waiting to bring issues to the board," Ortega said. "The board is examining the issues that they brought up," he said.

Ortega said ABOR is also looking at funding to accommodate this semester's record enrollment. He said no faculty members at UA have brought any issues to their attention but are looking forward to addressing other issues in the future.