The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCIII, No. 9-S
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Tuesday, May 24, 1983
Ten Cents
Sixteen Pages
'U' clericals
split over
union
By JAYNE HENDEL
In a vote beginning today the Univer-
sity's 3,300 clericals and secretaries
will decide if they want Union support
to negotiate for higher wages, job
security and better working conditions.
If the vote passes, clericals and
secretaries will he renresented by the
American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME),
a union which already negotiates con-
tracts for the University's 2,100 service
and maintenance workers.
THE NATIONAL union is the fourth
in the past decade to try organizing the
University's clericals but Jim Jarmer,
Michigan's director of AFSCME said he
thinks this time the vote will pass.
"The secretaries and clericals have
been relegated to second or third
position of importance because they're
not organized," Jarmer said. "(AF-
SCME) promises to do a responsible,
professional job of representing this
group in wages, hours and working
conditions."
But some clericals and secretaries
said they are not convinced that the
union benefits are worth the monthly
dues.
IF THE VOTE passes, all clericals
will be assessed $11.80 per month for
union dues, regardless of whether or
not they join the union Jarmer said.
Some clericals have criticized the fee
saying it is too steep.
"We'll be paying union dues and get-
ting nothing for it," said one secretary
for a University dean who asked not to
be identified.
"They keep saying they're going to
represent you," added Nancy Beghein,
a clerk at Mott Hospital. "The only
thing I can see them doing is a little
arm-twisting," she said.
vote
BEGHEIN SAID there should be a more
equitable method of charging union
dues such as a sliding fee based on a
clerical's salary.
The local AFSCME union will receive
only $1.20 of each member's monthly
dues, said Jarmer. The remaining
$10.60 will go to the union's national of-
fice to subsidize AFSCME's budget, he
said.
The national budget paid for the
Union's eight-month campaign on
campus to persuade University
clerical's to unionize. The campaign ef-
fort included bumperstickers, posters
and hotel fees for temporary offices in
the Campus Inn, which depleted the
national union fund by nearly $100,000
said Kathy Horwath, official in AFSC-
ME's Washington office.
The University last summer ex-
cluded clericals from a large faculty
pay increases which secretaries said
they felt was unfair.
ALTHOUGH the University granted
clericals a pay increase in January,.
union supporters said the move was
only an attempt to ward off the threat of
unionizing.
But Thiry said that the January pay
increase was "a budget matter" and
not in response to the threat of
unionizing.
Union supporters, however, said the
bargaining power the secretaries and
clericals will gain will help overturn the
current University merit-based salary
policy and institute across-the-board
raises.
See AFSCME, Page 5
Baseball coach Bud Middaugh obligingly signs autographs for young
Wolverine fans during the Big Ten championship playoffs at Ray Fisher
Stadium. The Wolverines won the crown and will go on to host an NCAA
regional playoff this weekend.
NEW CHEMISTR YBUILDING PROMISED:
Regents approve $60 million plan
By CHERYL BAACKE
University Regents last week approved a $60 million plan
for a new chemistry building and to repair the current
"grossly inefficient" facilities.
The new structure, which would sit adjacent to the more
than 50-year-old chemistry building in the center of campus,
will be the top facility for research and teaching in the coun-
try, said Thomas Dunn, chairman of the Chemistry depar-
tment.
The present building is outdated and is a health hazard for
students and faculty because of insufficient ventilation, Dunn
said. The new facility will have a complex ventilation system
and allow the University to keep up with the rapid changes in
technology and laboratory techniques, Dunn said.
THE UNIVERSITY has fallen behind other top universities
across the nation which have built new chemistry facilities in
the past few years, Dunn said.
The cost of the project includes $12 million for renovation of
the old building and $48 million for the new structure.
University President Harold Shapiro told the Regents that
the facility was a high priority and he would allocate an extra
$40 million if necessary to help finance the project.
"THE NEW building will be adaptable to the changing styles
of research," Dunn said.
See ECONOMICS, Page 4