OPINION
Page 6 The Michigan Daily Tuesday, May 24, 1983
The Michigan Daily Clericals need A FSCME
93 Years of Editorial Freedom be lying about my responsibilities keep the faculty from going to
Managed and Edited by students of By Janny Huisman and was being cross-examined. Columbia or Stanford? The
Y By .T~r~ZJ Hutprestigewaofeworkings-formithe
The University of Michigan Several months later I finally prestige of working for the
Last week the University sent a found out that the re- University of Michigan is not
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the letter to all clericals and classification I had asked for had enough for its faculty and ad-
Daily Editorial Board secretaries to inform them about been denied - this only after ministration, but it is supposed to

4

4

No to AFSCME
TODAY THROUGH Thursday, the clericals
of the University will vote on whether or
not to unionize under the American Federation
of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME). We urge them to vote "no," not
because we believe clericals do not need union
representation, but because we believe that
AFSCME will not be the best avenue to address
their concerns.
Clericals have expressed their concern that
as the University reduces it staff, they may be
left behind in the shuffle to fend for themselves
against the bureaucratic machinery of the
University.
Clericals have also said that they are not
highly valued by the University. The clericals
have said they receive only token wage in-
creases to placate them and prevent
unionization.
The clericals' concerns are valid and we sup-
port them.
AFSCME representation, however, will not
mitigate their problems and may compound
them by involving yet another bureaucracy in
the negotiating process.
To receive the benefits of an AFSCME union
card, clericals will have to pay $11.80 each mon-
th in union dues. According to union officials
only $1.20 will be returned directly to the local
AFSCME chapter.
Of the $350,000 in dues AFSCME would collect
annually from University clericals, over,
$330,000 will go to the union's national and in-
ternational offices.
Local AFSCME organizers have spent close
to $100,000 trying to influence the vote on this
campus. Such efforts to sell clericals on AF-
SCME have diverted attention from the true
issues to the notion, cited in an AFSCME flyer,
that clericals must unite to show the "Univer-
sity management" they don't have the power to
"push clericals around."
The method AFSCME intends to use to
negotiate pay increases would also be
problematic. The union proposed to reduce the
opportunity for .merit-based raises which
currently reward work well done.
Finally, AFSCME has failed to define the role
clericals will play in wage negotiations with
food service personnel, maintenance workers,
custodians, and nurse aids who are already
represented by AFSCME. All clericals should
carefully consider whether they would be
willing to honor the picket lines of another AF-
SCME local.
Clericals and secretaries play a vital role in
the operation of the University. They deserve
the best possible working conditions, job
security and wages. Unfortunately, AFSCME
has not proven to us that they are worth the
price.

the upcoming union elections. In
the second paragraph the letter
states that the University "en-
courages you to study the matter
and cast an informed vote."
It is very admirable of the
University to spend money on a
mass mailing to make sure all
clericals and secretaries are
aware of the election. The letter,
however, continues to give a
biased and misinformed view of
what voting in favor of a union
would mean.
"Collective bargaining," it
says, "is a procedure whereby
the employer and the union meet
to negotiate ..., there is no way to
predict how long it would take ...,
nor are there any guarantees that
any particular provision will be
included."
While all these statements
technically are not false, in prac-
tice a union is a heck-of-a-lot bet-
ter than what we have now. When
I entered into "individual
bargaining" with the University
last year, the process was ex-
tremely long and the outcome ex-
tremely frustrating.
I wrote an extensive job
description with which the people
I work for agreed. From there it
was sent to a "supervisor" with
whom I rarely had contact. It was
then forwarded to the office of
Staff and Union Relations in the
personnel department. More than
a month later I was called for an
interview. The tone of the inter-
view was very degrading and
humiliating, almost to the point
where I felt that I was assumed to

many phone calls on my part to
attempt to find out what decision
had been made. The University
never bothered to inform me of
the outcome of my "individual
bargaining" attempt.
Despite the fact that my im-
mediate employers, the Michigan
Student Assembly, felt that my
job was improperly classified -
and petitioned on my behalf to
rectify the situation - my
request was denied because the
personnel department did not
find it appropriate.
I know my case is not unique.
The point I am trying to make is
that whereas the University im-
plies that AFSCME will deny an
employee the right to enter into
individual bargaining, it seems to
me that working all alone for
your rights is virtually im-
possible. Thus, if clericals and
secretaries vote in favor of union
representation, I will forfeit the
right to go through the gruelling
process of trying to fight all alone
for my rights.
I enjoy my job and the people I
work with, that's why I've been
here for three years. But
sometimes the pressure of having
to earn enough to pay the rent,
food, clothing, car payments, and
a parking space charge are
enough to ruin all the satisfaction
I get from the job.
The University claims that it
does not have the money for pay
increases. But what about the
salaries of faculty and ad-
ministratorsethat aredcon-
tinuously increased in order to

suffice for its support staff. Well,
Columbia clericals just voted
themselves some job security and
a contract that prevents unfair
treatment. They voted for a
union.
As for union dues - which will
not be collected until an actual
contract has been negotiated -
$11.80 a month is worth my job
security, my ability to insure my
job, and hire AFSCME staff to
negotiate on my behalf.
The secretaries working for the
City of Ann Arbor have had AF-
SCME representation for many
years now. Their pay scales show
it. A City employee on the bottom
of a similar job classification
earns as much as a University
employee does at the top, and
City employees have better
benefits.
I hope University clericals and
secretaries will come out this
week to vote in favor of AFSC-
ME. The University is legally
obligated to give time off for em-
ployees to vote. The time, the
University letter boasts,
"arranged with supervisors" is
not a privilege, it is a legal right.
AFSCME representatives have
been extremely helpful to me, a
natural skeptic, and I'm sure will
answer any questions that still
exist. We've done without any
organized representation for too
long, let's give the union a chan-
ce.
Huisman is the Administrative
Coordinator of the Michigan
Student Assembly.

4

4

4

.4


Byron

C'. -,
I)'

i
i 1
i
s
MAuY COURSEPAcks Is wr-TAIAN' ^ :.tsr ?!

Vill
. "Y
t3ovJ AEr ,RF 5,5o'Rs ... Jrz2 flaw I