BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 259
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 259 (Hancock)
As Amended March 14, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :25-12
HIGHER EDUCATION 6-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Block, Brownley, Fong, |Ayes:|Gatto, Blumenfield, |
| |Galgiani, Lara, | |Bradford, |
| |Portantino | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |Hill, Cedillo, Mitchell, |
| | | |Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Olsen, Miller |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Expands the definition of employees under the Higher
Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) to include student
employees whose employment is contingent upon their status as
students, specifically Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
assuming that the approximately 14,000 GSRs at University of
California (UC) choose to unionize, UC will incur the following
costs, which assumes that, since GSR work is similar to that of the
6,000 Postdoctoral Scholars already under a bargaining agreement
with UC, some efficiencies will be gained:
1)Bargaining. One-time costs in the low hundreds of thousands of
dollars for bargaining sessions and travel.
2)Contract Administration-including training staff regarding
contract terms, grievance management, handling unfair labor
practice charges, responding to union information requests, and
conducting labor management meetings-could be in the range of $1
million annually systemwide. UC estimates a cost of about $1.7
million systemwide to administer its contract with postdoctoral
scholars, stating that this is a newer bargaining unit than that
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for teaching assistants and that newer units generally require
greater administration.
3)Compensation Increases. To the extent that collective bargaining,
in and of itself, results in overall compensation increases for
GSRs, systemwide costs would increase by about $2 million annually
for each 1% of across-the-board compensation increase.
4)Union Dues. If collective bargaining were to result in UC
covering the cost of union dues, UC estimates an annual cost of
$2. 3 million based on current GSR systemwide payroll costs and
United Auto Workers (UAW) dues rate. (The UAW represents UC
postdoctoral scholars and teaching assistants.)
Some of the above costs might be absorbable, and will likely decline
over time. Given years of tight budgets; however, it is not likely
that current UC administrative resources could simply assume the
entirety of this new responsibility.
In terms of funding, much of the above costs could be covered from
the grants and contracts that fund much of UC's research, which in
addition to funding the direct costs of the research, include an
allowance for recovery of indirect costs like contract
administration and other related overhead expenses. UC indicates,
however, that indirect costs are typically higher than research
sponsors are willing to pay and that recovery of such costs varies
among research sponsors. UC reports that rates negotiated with
federal agencies are among the highest but are still estimated at 5%
to 18% below the true indirect costs of conducting the research. To
the extent the above costs are not covered within the amount
provided in grants and contracts, they would be covered by the
General Fund and student fee revenue.
COMMENTS : HEERA provides a statutory framework to regulate labor
relations at UC, the California State University (CSU), and Hastings
College of Law. HEERA is administered and enforced by the Public
Employment Relations Board (PERB). In a 1998 decision, PERB
determined that under the current statutory language, UC's 12,000
Teaching Assistants (TAs), Readers and Tutors had collective
bargaining rights because their employment is not contingent upon
their status as students, but that GSRs, also known as Research
Assistants did not have such rights. (UC's 6,000 Postdoctoral
Scholars may also collectively bargain under HEERA.) As noted
previously, the UAW represents UC teaching assistants and
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Postdoctoral Scholars. Student employees equivalent to GSRs at CSU
are covered under HEERA by a voluntary agreement with CSU.
Difference between TAs, GSRs, and Postdoctoral Scholars:
1)Teaching Assistants/Associates/Fellows are enrolled students,
whose primary duty is assistance in all aspects of instruction
(tutoring, grading, advising, sectional teaching, sectional
laboratory teaching, field work teaching, limited lecturing).
These duties are performed under the supervision of faculty
"instructors of record" and are paid from state funds
(instructional money).
2)GSRs are enrolled students selected for high achievement and
promise as creative scholars, and assist faculty members with
scholarly research. GSRs may not be assigned teaching,
administrative, or general assistance duties, and are paid from
contracts and grants generated by the faculty.
3)Postdoctoral Scholars are not enrolled students; they are
individuals who have recently completed a doctoral degree, who
seek additional scholarship and continued research training. The
Postdoctoral Scholar conducts research under the general oversight
of a faculty mentor in preparation for a career position in
academe, industry, government, or the nonprofit sector.
According to the UAW, graduate students work at UC for five to 10
years while pursuing their PhDs. During this time, they frequently
move in and out of the TA union, since they are employed as both TAs
and GSRs. This movement between jobs creates a lack of continuity,
with the same group of workers having unequal rights and benefits
from one term to the next. According to UC, GSRs are often
recruited and enrolled specifically for research, but departments
will require one or two semesters as a TA in order to meet the
instructional needs of that department. The one or two semesters of
as a TA also tend to occur within the first year or so of their
course of study, with the GSR's focus shifting to research later on.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960
FN: 0004990
SB 259
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