The University of Alaska’s newest and largest union filed an against the university last week. The union alleges the university interfered with bargaining rights and retaliated against union members.
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The Coalition of Alaska University Employees for Equity, or CAUSE-UAW, formed in April. The union of more than 2,000 includes permanent staff at the university, including people who work in financial aid, advising, communications and other areas.
The union alleges the university violated state law on two fronts. One was by reversing course on supporting a 3% wage increase for staff during the legislative session. That’s according to Jeremiah Youmans, a senior data center technician for the university, who’s on the union’s bargaining committee.
“There was a path forward for us to get the 3% raise, and that the university worked against us in getting rid of that from the budget,” he said.
The university’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year included a 3% wage increase for non-union employees, as well as raises for union members based on collective bargaining agreements. State law requires salary raises for union members to come from collective bargaining agreements that the Legislature approves funding for, which CAUSE does not have yet.
The House’s version of the budget included language that created a possibility for CAUSE to also receive that raise. That ultimately did not end up in the final version of the budget.
Youmans said these raises are important to members.
“Not having this wage increase is, in former President Pitney’s own words, ‘threatens the stability of the university,’” he said. “Like others in Alaska, we’re struggling with rising cost increases, particularly with the rise in oil prices.”
Youmans explained the second way the union claims the university is violating state law.
“The university continues to retaliate against us by soliciting people to leave the unit in exchange for that 3% increase,” he said.
According to the filing, the University HR Director, Nickole Conley, sent an email to a group of university employees stating that some people might receive a 3% wage increase if by the end of the fiscal year, they submit an objection to their inclusion in the union.
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Jonathon Taylor is the director of public affairs for the university. He said the university has not violated state law on either front. He said the university communicated to staff from the beginning of the election period that they would not qualify for a 3% raise for the next fiscal year.
“In state law, and in case law, it’s black and white,” he said. “We can’t pay increases to represented groups without a legislative appropriation and a contract.”
Taylor said the claim about asking people to leave the union is untrue. He explained that prior to the union election, both parties couldn’t agree on whether certain positions belonged to the union. But he said there was an agreement in place to review those positions after the election.
Taylor said the email mentioned in the filing was to notify finance staff that there are people who might qualify for a raise after both parties determine whether the positions in question do or don’t belong in the union.
“It’s basically saying, ‘Look, we know that there are some people who are eligible who may end up getting pulled out of the unit because they weren’t put in there correctly. They shouldn’t have been in there to begin with, and if they do get pulled out, then they will still get their increase,’” he said
Taylor said the university is working to get through the contract process, which is how union staff will be able to get a raise.
“The big picture for us is trying to do right by our employees and making sure they have correct and accurate information, and moving towards actual contract negotiations, so that we can resolve some of this uncertainty that I think a lot of our staff are experiencing,” Taylor said.
The university can respond to the union’s charge, and the union can then file a rebuttal afterwards. A hearing examiner investigates the case and then issues a finding, which usually takes 90 days, according to the Alaska Labor Relations Agency’s administrator and hearing examiner, Nicole Thibodeau.
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