BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1834 (Williams) - Higher Education Employees
Amended: April 24, 2014 Policy Vote: PE&R 3-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1834 expands the definition of employees under
the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act to include
student employees whose employment is contingent upon their
status as students.
Fiscal Impact:
Approximately $639,000 to UC for collective bargaining
(General)
Annual costs to UC of approximately $1.7 million for
administering the contracts (General)
Potential salary increases as a result of negotiations
ranging from $2.3 million (based on 1.15% increase) to $14
million (based on range of 3-7% increase) (General/Federal -
approximately 85% funding comes from Federal grants and
private sources)
The UC estimates initial costs associated with collective
bargaining to be $639,000. This cost entails 116 days for the
following: bargaining sessions, planning, researching, drafting
language, responding to union information requests, travel days
and travel expenses for a Negotiator and Assistant Negotiator.
The estimate also includes 58 days of expenses for Faculty
Representatives, Labor Relations Campus Representatives, and
Labor Relations Assistant. The ongoing cost ranges are based on
whether the total cost to administer GSR contracts is similar to
the costs incurred to administer teaching assistance contracts
($605,959) or similar to costs currently paid to administer
post-doctoral contracts ($1,689,784). Administrative costs stem
from the need to provide additional staff support to negotiate a
contract, develop policy and educational materials, and
implement training programs for the campuses. These costs would
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likely be paid from the General Fund.
In addition, UC estimates that if the GSRs receive a
compensation increase as a result of their new contract (for
instance, to cover the cost of union due contributions),
additional costs would be $2.3 million annually for a 1.15%
salary increase; $6 million for a 3% increase; $10 million for
an increase of 5%, and $14 million for a salary increase of 7%.
Though the graduate student research positions are mostly funded
from grants and federal monies, those grants are in limited
supply and any increases in costs could result in fewer GSR
positions being offered.
Background: The Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations
Act (HEERA) provides a statutory framework to regulate labor
relations between the University of California (UC), the
California State University (CSU), and Hastings College of Law
and their employees. HEERA is administered and enforced by the
Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
PERB's decision in Regents of the UC & Association of Student
Employees, UAW, et al (1998) (PERB Order No. 1301-H) rendered a
determination that under the current statutory language, UC's
12,000 Teaching Assistants (TAs), Readers, and Tutors had
bargaining rights but, the Research Assistants (RAs) did not.
This inequity may create a continuity problem when student
employees change positions from TAs to RAs, and back again since
while employed as RAs, they are not covered by a contract and
consequently lose certain rights and benefits.
Proposed Law: AB 1834 will authorize graduate student Research
Assistants who are employed by the University of California to
collectively bargain for their benefits. There are
approximately 14,000 GSRs employed by the University of
California, and about 85% of the funding comes from non-State
sources such as Federal funds and private grants, with the
remaining costs coming from the General Fund.
Related Legislation: In 2012, SB 259 (Hancock), a virtually
identical bill, was vetoed by the Governor, who indicated that
he did not have "sufficient and persuasive evidence warranting a
change to the current framework within which graduate student
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researchers and faculty undertake their joint intellectual
inquiries." The Governor was also reluctant to place a new
mandate on the university system during the fiscal environment
at that time.
SB 259 (Hancock), also identical to this measure, was held on
this committee's Suspense File in 2013.
Staff Comments: According to the University of California,
there are significant benefits being provided to GSRs which are
very similar to the benefit packages provided to other graduate
students including health insurance, childcare, tuition/fee
remission, and paid holidays.
Aside from providing eligibility for UC Research Assistants to
participate in a collective bargaining process, the provisions
of SB 259 may create a fundamental change in the faculty-student
relationship which is currently more of an academic
mentor-mentee relationship. The University of California
indicates that this relationship would change to one of
employer-employee, and could have a severely negative impact on
the University's mission of teaching, research and service.
Student employees who work jobs equivalent to RAs at CSU are
covered under HEERA by voluntary agreement between the UAW and
CSU.