uc-aft unit 17 negotiations

At the mediation session on Friday, April 17, we continued to attempt
to work toward settlement of our salary issues.

There are still significant gaps between the parties and at this point
we do not have another mediation session on calendar.
Nonetheless, the mediator is not convinced that it is impossible to
reach settlement, and she has mandated that we stay with the process
for at least another two weeks. By statute, we cannot move on to
factfinding until the mediator certifies that the mediation has
failed.

As noted in our previous posting, the mediation process is
confidential and we therefore cannot share details of our discussions.
We are continuing to review our options and the full Unit 17
Bargaining Committee will participate in any decisions about next
steps. We expect to have more information for the entire unit in
early May.

In the meantime, librarians are continue to organize across the
campuses. Thanks to all who participated in our button and T-shirt
day on April 17.

This coming weekend, April 25-26, UCLA librarians will be out
petitioning and handing out bookmarks and buttons at the LA Times Festival
of Books, an event that brings thousands of book enthusiasts (who
hopefully appreciate librarians!) to the campus. If you would like to
join them, please contact our UCLA Field Representative Maria Elena
Cortez at 310-330-6906 or via e-mail at cortez.ucaft@gmail.com.

Also, please watch for activities on your campus on Thursday April 30,
when UC-AFT will be calling upon the University to prioritize
undergraduate education. At UCSB, this will take the form of a "Hug
the Library" event, where supporters will encircle the library to
dramatize the need for UC to provide adequate salaries to librarians.

There will be rallies and teach-ins with similar themes at other
campuses -- be sure to watch for announcements from your local
officers and field representatives and to come out on April 30.

Karen Sawislak
Executive Director
UC-AFT
510-740-0145
ksawislak@cft.org