LSS August 19-21 Bargaining Update

The CSUEU LSS (Library Services Specialist) bargaining team met with the CSU on August 19-21, to continue negotiations over the implementation of the LSS classification. Here is the bargaining report:

State Budget Crisis Hobbles Negotiations Over Implementation Of LSS Classification

CSUEU and CSU met August 19 through 21, 2008 as part of ongoing contract negotiations. CSU management made it clear that the lack of funds in the state budget compels them to shelve indefinitely any discussion of raising the pay for all incumbent Library Assistants (LAs) and Lead Library Assistants who are being reclassified.

Over the past decade, several major CSU classifications have been revised, reorganized or created, including information technology workers, administrative support staff and administrative analysts. In all of these reclassifications, market salary increases came out of overall compensation dollars that had been bargained between CSUEU and CSU.

Were it not for the major issue of compensation, the parties would be reasonably close to an agreement on the logistics of moving from the Library Assistant classification series to the Library Services Specialist classification (LSS), a transition long in the works and the subject of many prior LSS Bulletins.

Aside from the salary question, progress continues on plans for the transition, including how the classification will be moved over and how long the transition will take. During these discussions, progress was also made on the question of salary spread: CSUEU and CSU reached an agreement on increasing the salary spread from the lowest salary rate to the highest salary from 50% to 60%.

An important part of CSUEU's proposal of August 21, 2008, is the creation of a five-member Classification Appeals Panel. Under this plan, any denials of reclasses will be submitted to a classifier selected from this panel. Other key components of CSUEU's August 21 proposal:

• Library assistants who have not updated their position description within the last year will be urged to do so within 60 days of an agreement.
• Appropriate administrators will compare the duties of incumbent employees to the LSS Classification and Qualifications Standards (CQS). In cases where the administrator believes that an employee is misclassified, that administrator will submit a reclassification request to HR by November 30, 2008.
• Employees who believe they are misclassified and whose administrator doesn't request a review for them by November 30, 2008, may submit reclassification requests between November 30 and March 31, 2009.
• The CSU will consider an employee's job duties, skills, experience and educational background both for placement in the appropriate LSS classification and for setting the appropriate salary rate for that classification.
• Lead LAs have the option of moving into the appropriate LSS classification.
• LAs and Lead LAs who move into the LSS classification will receive at least 7.5 percent increases to their salary rates over the next three years.
• LSSs who perform lead duties will be paid at least five percent more than the employees they lead.
• If a Lead LA elects to remain in his or her current classification, the position will be filled with the appropriate Unit 9 classification once the position is vacated.
• There will be no changes to the status quo until bargaining over the LSS implementation is completed.

The CSU will respond to the union's latest proposal by the time of the next bargaining session, which is scheduled for October, 2008. CSUEU will continue to keep you informed.

Links

• LSS Already In Use As Job Title (Unit 9 News)
• LSS Bargaining Update (Unit 9 News)
• LSS Letters Sent to Library Assistants (Unit 9 News)
• Bargaining 101
• Classification Bargaining 101
• Library Services Specialist (LSS) Frequently Asked Questions
• Library Assistants - Joan Kennedy's collection of information about the Library Assistants classification and the Library Services Specialist (LSS) classification being created
• LSS Bargaining Report: State Budget Crisis Hobbles Negotiations Over Implementation Of LSS Classification (csueu.org)