Spring 2023 Post Strike Implementation

Following the conclusion of the 2022 UAW contract negotiations, the campus established several workgroups to begin the process of rebuilding and managing post-strike recovery efforts. The workgroups included: financial planning, academic & instructional planning, faculty experience and campus climate and healing.

Final report

Work groups

Financial planning

Including future-looking financial modeling, UAW contract implementation, contract billing and effort reporting for the strike period. This workgroup is broken into three distinct teams focused on the following specific areas:

  • UAW Contract Implementation: This team will focus on matters such as training the Berkeley Regional Services (BRS) organization, Sponsored Projects Office and Industry Alliances Office on the new pay rates, GSR/GSI steps and the integration with grants and budgets. Secondly, the team will develop and deliver training for faculty (including Principal Investigators), department managers, academic personnel analysts and others who might supervise UAW workers on the new contract. Lastly, this team will ensure the accuracy of new data input into UCPath. We encourage you to rely on official university sources for information, such as UCOP, Employee and Labor Relations (ELR), the Academic Personnel Office (APO), and the post-strike recovery website that has been established.
  • Contract billing and payroll recovery for strike period: This team will focus on the distribution, completion and processing of attestation forms which will record the time worked during the strike. Secondly, the team will develop recommendations and procedures for grant billing and effort-reporting for the grant period.
  • Financial modeling: This team will model UAW affected salary and benefit increases at the department, employee type and contract/grant level over varying time horizons. The model will be made available to administrators, deans and chairs for decision making.
  • Lead: Rosemarie Rae, VC-Finance and CFO
  • Staff: Rosemary Kim, AVC & COS for the Office of the VCF

Academic/instructional planning

Resolving grading issues from fall semester, re-engaging with GSIs and UGSIs, long-term consequences on instruction.

  • Leads: Oliver O’Reilly, VPUE; and Mary Ann Smart, Chair, Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
  • Staff: Sumali Tuchrello, Project Policy Analyst, Office of the VPUE

Faculty experience

Managing relationships with funders (e.g., research funded by federal agencies), repairing relationships with graduate students that may have been affected by the strike.

  • Leads: Victoria Plaut, VPF; Kathy Yelick, VCR; and Mary Ann Smart, Chair, Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
  • Staff: Dana Jantz, Project Policy Analyst, Office of the VPF

Campus climate and healing

Supporting employees, faculty, and students with rebuilding connections and community; understanding the impacts of the strike on graduate programs moving forward.

  • Leads: Lisa Garcia Bedolla, VP, Graduate Studies & Dean of the Graduate Division; and Sunny Lee, AVC & Dean of Students
  • Staff: Marissa Berwick, Executive Assistant, Office of the Dean of Students

Communications

Ensuring the campus community is informed about post-strike recovery efforts and has access to information needed to move forward.

  • Lead: Diana Harvey, AVC, Communications and Public Affairs
  • Staff: Janet Gilmore, Senior Director of Strategic Communications, Communications & Public Affairs

Additional information & resources

Let’s talk about it: tools and resources for facilitating group conversations that impact campus climate (for faculty and staff)

Faculty and administrative staff - you are invited to a conversation where presenters will share tools and resources for moving from a reactive space to one that rebuilds trust and relationships after the historic 2022 strike and subsequent new contract implementation. This is something that matters a lot to academic leaders, but it’s not something we are all necessarily trained to do. This conversation will help!

Participants will: 

  • Have the opportunity to share and connect around campus climate issues impacting their departments

  • Gain tools for holding space for challenging conversations in groups

  • Learn about resources to support campus climate, recovery, and healing

Tuesday, March 14, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM via Zoom | RSVP here

Trainings for new and updated UAW contracts

The Academic Personnel Office, Graduate Division, Berkeley Regional Services, and Employee and Labor Relations are excited to provide campus training on the following new and updated UAW Contracts:

Descriptions and dates can be found in this bMail message. We encourage all of our campus partners to attend. Please RSVP to the training by completing this form.

For any training related questions please contact Employee and Labor Relations at addison_elr@berkeley.edu.

ASE and GSR Negotiations/Contract Office Hours

Faculty and administrative staff - unsure of how the new contract affects your department? Need advice on helping your students navigate the system? Get your questions answered one on one in our Employee & Labor Relations hosted Office Hours sessions. We’re open every other Friday from 9-10am. RSVP here to be added to the calendar invites. Questions about Office Hours? Email us at negotiations-ase-gsr@berkeley.edu.