The Staff Union at U.Va. signed an agreement yesterday to merge with the Communication Workers of America.
The organization will be renamed the SUUVA-CWA.
The SUUVA is a labor union representing the classified staff of the University, including hospital employees. CWA represents over 700,000 people nationwide, including staff members at over 100 college campuses.
The SUUVA-CWA plans to address employee conflicts, fight racial and age discrimination in hiring and promotion practices and mitigate affirmative action disputes. The CWA supports affirmative action and makes representatives available for union members in related disputes.
SUUVA President Jan Cornell cited rising health care premiums and prescription costs, as well as rising parking rates, as problems facing University staff members at a Newcomb Hall press conference yesterday afternoon.
Cornell also addressed wage decreases related to the state budget crisis.
"In the year 2002 most of us will be bringing home less than in 2001, essentially a pay cut [that will bring] employees below the living wage," Cornell said. "U.Va. should be helping us out in this time of economic crisis."
Speakers at the press conference also addressed the legacy of racial discrimination associated with the University's employee treatment practices, which they saw as unfair.
The University "has been accused of discriminating against African-Americans since the earliest days, and promises to remedy the situation have been broken over and over again," said Edna Jackie Miller, president of the Albemarle County branch of the NAACP. "I urge all U.Va. employees to join SUUVA."
Virginia is a "right to work" state in which employees cannot be forced to join a union.
Forming a voluntary union, however, is legal.
As state employees, University employees cannot bargain collectively or go on strike. However, the CWA has the power to lobby the government. They already have met with Gov. Mark R. Warner several times to discuss its issues.
The SUUVA looks forward to the political advantages offered by the CWA affiliation.
"It's about time we had a voice in Richmond," said Susan Fraiman, founding member of the University Labor Action Group and English Department faculty member.
The merging of the SUUVA-CWA was negotiated with the help of the LAG.
The LAG is best known for its Living Wage Campaign, launched in 1998 to promote an $8 working wage for all University and city employees.
Charlottesville granted the "living wage" to its employees in 1999.
The University gave a living wage to classified salary employees in 2000.
Workers joining the SUUVA-CWA must submit regular union dues equal to twice the federal hourly minimum wage each month.
Alternately, part-time employees may elect to pay a rate of 1.15 percent of base wages per pay period.
Membership in the SUUVA-CWA is optional but open to all University classified staff members.
The CWA also is a member of the AFL-CIO, a national federation of 64 different labor unions. Created in 1955, the AFL-CIO represents 13 million working men and women across the United States.
Read More
Winsome Earle-Sears talks higher education in first U.Va. event of the campaign
By Ford McCracken | 2 hours agoA Jamaican immigrant and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Earle-Sears is the first female lieutenant governor of Virginia,
U.Va.'s Earth Day Eco-Fair 2025 spotlights sustainability advocacy
By Leigh Bailey | 3 hours agoStudents from Contracted Independent Organizations and University Office of Sustainability leadership programs each shared their unique perspectives about sustainability advocacy on Grounds.
Student Council votes to relocate Hereford orchard and basketball hoop
By Lauren Seeliger | 13 hours agoStudent Council passed a resolution Tuesday to relocate the orchard and basketball hoop of Hereford Residential College due to construction in the surrounding area.
