UC system: We would not “create a secret loophole” to pay research scholars less | Opinion

We read with great interest the opinion piece published in The Bee this past Saturday titled “Is the University of California rigging it so research scholars get paid less?”

The University of California, spanning 10 campuses, six academic health centers and three national laboratories, is committed to fair and equitable pay and benefits for its employees.

Additionally, compensation decisions for represented employees are made in partnership with its unions, which negotiate terms and conditions of employment for their members. The status of these negotiations and the underlying terms are shared with the UC community by the university and the UC system’s respective unions. Given that, UC has not and would not create a secret loophole for its valued research employees — nor could it, given the public and negotiated nature of its compensation programs.

Opinion

The author of the April 20 opinion piece wrote: “The UC system’s records show that postdoctoral scholars who have over five years of experience are “promoted” to a new, more permanent position, typically in the project scientist series…But more than 50% of postdocs who make this transition are placed at least one pay step below where they should be, according to documents received by my union, UAW Local 4811, as part of a request for information to the UC system. And a full 35% of us end up taking a pay cut.”

It is correct that after these negotiated increases were applied, the top salary step for a mentored postdoctoral scholar position is higher than the bottom salary step for the project scientist position, a non-mentored position. While the bottom salary step for a project scientist is initially lower than the top step for a post-doctoral scholar, project scientists are also entitled to a step increase tied to academic reviews. Under the current contract, that means that a project scientist is entitled to an annual 3.5% increase and is eligible for an additional 5% increase every other year.

Contract negotiations between UC and our bargaining units are particular and detailed, with each article and its stipulations, often line by line, carefully reviewed, vetted and discussed by both parties. The overlap between the top of the postdoctoral salary scale and the bottom of the project scientist scale was highlighted by the university during that process.

The UC negotiated with the op-ed author’s bargaining unit (United Auto Workers 5810) in 2022; the parties held more than 60 bargaining sessions to reach the existing agreements, all of which were and continue to be readily available to the public. These negotiations resulted in an approximate 15% increase for postdoctoral scholars and a 4.5% increase for academic researchers for the first year of the contract, with agreed-upon salary scales, which we understand that UC Davis is adhering to.

We respect and honor employees’ choice for union representation and each unit’s leadership in implementing a mutually agreed upon contract. As the UC starts preparing for future bargaining with UAW, it will consider the important concerns raised in the previously published op-ed. We also strongly encourage the author and others to work with their union on issues that are critical to them because, despite concerns raised by the UC during the last round of bargaining, UAW advocated for the current salary scales and will also negotiate any future compensation changes on its members’ behalf.

The UC has and will continue to support fair and equitable pay and paths for advancement for all of our employees because we value our workforce. Even with funding stretched thin, the UC strives to remain competitive regionally and nationally to keep delivering on its mission to serve society as a center of higher learning, providing long-term societal benefits through transmitting advanced knowledge, discovering new knowledge and functioning as an active working repository of organized knowledge.

Melissa Matella is the associate vice president for system wide employee & labor relations at the University of California Office of the President.