Dear Editor:

The administration’s plan for represented staff to face a “reduction in time; permanent or temporary layoff,” is basically illegal. The fact that the administration is going ahead with the unilateral implementation of the program without union agreement is a change that must be bargained with any union. Anything less is a violation of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act and against labor law.

Agreement by bargaining with International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501, at UC Riverside and the Federated University Police Officers Association, shows that the university’s legal obligation can be met, yet it remains unfulfilled with UPTE, CUE, AFT, CNA and AFSCME. Failing to get most of the unions to agree on the furlough program indicates that the administration does not care to bargain in good faith or for the welfare of staff.

Having spent over three years at the bargaining table facing Human Resources, I have experienced a culture of “no” when it regards unionized staff. This program falls hardest on those that can least afford it.

It is also worth noting that no one from any of the unions mentioned was interviewed for the story, “Union staff notified of furlough alternatives” (Sept. 18 Dateline). This gives the readers a one-sided view of the facts that violates the very idea of any type of intellectual debate.

Pete Livingston

staff research associate

Agricultural and Resource Economics