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Investing in the people who
make NYU work December 3, 2003 From left: Caroline Rubens, Steve Rechner, Ryan Nuckel and Heidi Lubov are union representatives at the Union of Clerical, Administrative & Technical Staff at New York University. Consider the Union of Clerical, Administrative & Technical Staff Association, the nearly 1,800 workers of New York University who keep the prestigious institution in lower Manhattan running. Steve Rechner, recently elected president of Local 3882, noted that the local's dues provide a 150 percent return this year because of raises to base salaries that the union negotiated. "Add to that the value of health insurance, pension plan, a child-care fund, longevity increases and life insurance - and then consider the job security, layoff/recall rights, cumulative sick leave, family care leave and many other benefits - and the return on your investment of union dues is incalculable," said Rechner, an administrative aide at the law school. Besides increased pay, the union is continuing to feel the effects of winning an agency-shop clause in the five-year contract negotiated with help from their statewide union in 2000. Agency shop refers to a recognition that Local 3882 negotiates for all, so that dues are automatically taken out of the checks of new hires, a provision all public schools and universities in the state already have. The clause also means that the largest stand-alone local of support staffers in New York State United Teachers has been able to shift energy and resources to enforcing the contract. The result is an increase in participation. The number of members voting Rechner and 12 new shop stewards into office doubled from the previous election, even though most seats were uncontested (including Rechner's) and the local doesn't face bargaining for a new contract for another two years. "I figured my opponent in the election was member complacency," said Rechner. "I wanted to increase member participation because every vote is a message to NYU that our union is alive and vibrant." Solidarity successes Among the new stewards are Heidi Lubov, Caroline Rubens and Ryan Nuckel, who share the unionist drive to help people through solidarity. At 22, Nuckel was an NYU history student who was offered a job at Tamiment Library in February; Rubens went through several careers before joining NYU two years ago as a computer lab technician; Lubov had worked at NYU in the late 1980s and recently decided to return. As a free-lance film researcher, Rubens often saw and read widespread anti-union propaganda. "That comes from management, which runs everything," Rubens said. "Workers, however, need to know that any benefits they get come from the unions that negotiated for them." Nuckel agreed. "Unions have the most incredible power to help people," he said. "Who else is going to take on their employer when they have to? People individually won't or can't. But collectively, as a union, we can and do." Lubov saw results last year after the law school decided to prohibit staff from using a break room. "It was so demeaning the way the administration handled it," said Lubov. "But the union used solidarity and helped people positively" by staging a coffee-break "sip-in" and inviting the deans to hear their concerns. Also, the union succeeded in improving health and safety issues for workers and students at the Morse science lab and cutting through paycheck red tape. Most recently, 11 accounts-payable staffers, after waiting a year from when administrators told them an upgrade was "certain," only got the upgrade after the union submitted the reclassification request. All told, about 100 employees have received upgrades from the union's efforts in recent years. "This is one of our biggest opportunities," Rechner said. "The administration ignores the increasing responsibilities workers take on. We force them to recognize it. That's why unions matter, now more than ever." - Betsy Sandberg |
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