UIC Updates

Bargaining Over Mandatory Vaccinations at UIC

Last week UIC notified employees that they would be implementing a mandatory vaccination policy for employees this Fall. SEIU 73 has submitted a formal demand to bargain over the policy and we have scheduled a bargaining session for Friday, August 6. Any time a new policy is instituted that changes the conditions of employment, it is our duty to bargain over the impact of that policy so we can ensure that members rights are protected.

Now, we need to hear from you. To better inform the bargaining process, UIC Stewards are asking all members (those currently vaccinated and those not) to fill out this short anonymous advisory survey about COVID vaccinations. The more information your stewards have about what members want and need in order to feel safe and protected at work, the better prepared we will be to represent employees throughout this process.

For more information about COVID19 and Vaccinations, we encourage you check out our COVID19 resources webpage here.

A New Era for 73 at UIC

We are entering a new era for Local 73 members at UIC. Pay raises, market adjustments, and retro have been applied for all four contracts and nearly all of the contract changes have been implemented. Now we are turning our focus towards building on the unity and strength we gained through our contract fight last year to hold UIC accountable. That means growing and developing our stewards in every building and on every shift. It means educating membership about our contract and our union. Most importantly, it means using every tool we have at our disposal, from grievances to workplace actions, to ensure that the contract is followed.

Some of the issues your stewards are working on right now are:

Monitoring the implementation of the bi-lingual pay for clerical and professionals at DSCC and UI Health.
Ensuring that the BSWs who work for the Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services get the backpay for their shift differentials.
Setting up labor management meetings with UIC so that we can discuss problems and concerns that may arise as the year continues on.

SEIU Local 73 continues to add newly trained stewards to our roster with our goal of having stewards in every worksite, every shift. Stewards are workers just like you who volunteer to make sure our contracts are being adhered to, that working conditions are safe, and that workers are treated fairly. If you are interested in becoming as steward or learning more about the role, sign up here.

Don’t be afraid to get involved! Together we have political power to support worker-friendly legislation and candidates at the county, city, state, and national level. Consider giving a small amount each paycheck to the Committee on Political Education Fund here.

Start conversations with coworkers on why your union is important to you. Speak up if there are situations that seem unsafe or unfair. Contact your steward, and if you don’t know who your steward is, reach out to your union rep. You can find their contact information on the UIC updates website here.

Our union is ALL of us together. Together we can make UIC a place where all workers and all work are respected.

Raises and Retro

Currently the Year 1 and Year 2 wage scales have been posted for the Technical, Clerical, Service and Professional contracts on the UIC Labor Agreements page. We advise all members to review these wage scales and compare to their paychecks to ensure that your raises are applied correctly. If you have a question, please reach out to the staff organizer assigned to your area at UIC (see below).

Technical Contract
Technical has their raises and their retro pay. Look at these FAQs provided by UIC as well as the section below “Understanding Your Retro Pay” for questions about the retro pay

Clerical Contract
Clerical has their raises and their retro pay. Look at these FAQs provided by UIC as well as the section below “Understanding Your Retro Pay” for questions about the retro pay

Service Contract
Service has their raises and their retro pay. Look at these FAQs provided by UIC as well as the section below “Understanding Your Retro Pay” for questions about the retro pay.

Professional Contract
Professional has their raises and retro pay. Look at these FAQs provided by UIC as well as the section below “Understanding Your Retro Pay” for questions about the retro pay. If you still have questions or concerns about the results of your market study, please either reach out to your assigned staff rep below or contact the Member Action Center at (312) 787-5868 or mac@seiu73.org.

Political Power Wins 2% Campus Wage for UIC Employees

The university announced a 2% campus wage for year 3, which is higher than the 1.5% we negotiated in the contract. This is because your union, along with many others, has been fighting throughout the pandemic for federal funding to be allocated to institutions like UIC. These efforts paid off on May 11 when the Department of Education announced $36 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to support higher education, students, and the employees who make these institutions run. Not long after the funding was announced, UIC announced that the campus wage for the 3rd year of our agreements would be 2%. Help keep our political fights like these strong by joining hundreds of your coworkers at UIC in contributing to COPE.

The 2% will be effective the first day of the pay period after the end of Year 2 and the beginning of Year 3 for each respective agreement:

Professional – effective the first day of the pay period after August 16

Clerical – effective the first day of the pay period after August 27

Service – effective the first day of the pay period after October 4

Technical – effective the first day of the pay period after December 17

Understanding Your Retro Pay

We have received lots of questions about how the retro pay was calculated and if the checks are correct. The important thing to remember is that the union doesn’t cut your checks or calculate your pay, which is why we requested that UIC put together these FAQs for you in understanding your retro pay. If you feel that you have been paid the wrong amount for whatever reason, you need to reach out to HR and explain to the best of your ability why you think the calculation is wrong. After communicating with HR, if you still believe you have been paid incorrectly, then you should reach out to your steward or union representative.

Rather than resolving these issues on an individual basis, we are planning on filing all-affected grievances so that we can fight to ensure that every single person received what were fought for and won in our contract.

Why does my check say 100 hours?

This is for the funding percentage and will always total 100% for everyone. This does not reflect retroactive hours.

How many retro checks will I receive?

Retro will appear in one check as the total amount that was calculated for that individual member.

What I am owed in my retro?

Retro pay should account for the following:

Across the board raises for each year of the contract (to know what you are owed for what year of your contract, look at the table below)
Overtime hours worked
Benefit time
Any step increases or changes to your rate

YEAR	TECHNICAL	CLERICAL	SERVICE	PROFESSIONAL
1 = 2% Increase	Dec 17 2019 – Dec 16 2020	Aug 27 2019 – Aug 26 2020	Oct 4 2019 – Oct 3 2020	Aug 16 2019 – Aug 15 2020
2 = 1% Increase	Dec 17 2020 – Dec 16 2021	Aug 27 2020 – Aug 26 2021	Oct 4 2020 – Oct 3 2021	Aug 16 2020 – Aug 15 2021

How do I know if I was paid correctly?

The simple formula for understanding how your gross retro pay is calculated is:

Amount you are owed per hour (this is not your rate, it’s the increase you were owed on top of your rate, for example 2% for Year 1 or 1% for Year 2)
Multiplied by Hours worked during the time period you were owed

If you are full time, your hours owed for a year would just be 2080 (40 hours a week x 52 weeks a year) or 1950 (37.5 hours per week x 52 weeks), not counting overtime. Because your rates are different for each year, you have to calculate Year 1 and Year 2 separately then add together. The easiest way to check your retro for Year 1 is to multiply your rate before the strike by 2% to find out how much you were owed per hour. Then multiply that number by either 2080 or 1950 hours worked for Year 1. When calculating Year 2, you have to estimate the number of hours worked between the beginning of Year 2 and the date that the retro was applied. Then multiply that number by 1%. Add Year 1 and Year 2 together and compare to the gross amount on your check.

Ask yourself: Does this number look right? Were you paid more or less than the number you calculated? How much overtime did you work last year? Does it look like your retro check incorporated your overtime? Does it look like you were overpaid? Did you receive a step increase or a promotion that would have increased your rate during the year? Does this number account for that? If you were paid more or less than the amount you calculated, and you can’t account for the difference after asking yourself the questions above, then it is likely that you were underpaid or overpaid.

What do I do if my retro looks wrong?

At this point, you should reach out to HR and explain to them why you think your check was wrong. Below is a sample of a letter or email that you can send to HR explaining what you believe you were owed. This is written based on the year 1, year 2, and implementation dates in the Technical contract, so you would need to update with the correct dates for your contract.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am a (…title…) and as such I understand that my pay increases are determined by the collective bargaining process. I also understand that this process was concluded on or about 12/1/2020.

In that agreement I am to receive 2% pay retroactive to 12/17/2019 for year 1 of the technical contract, which brings my hourly rate from (prestrike rate ) to (prestrike rate x 1.02). For that increase I am expecting at least ($ amount of retro= amount of increase x 20560 hours) with additional retro for overtime hours.

For year 2 of the technical contract starting 12/17/2020, I am to receive a 1 percent raise bringing my rate from (year 1 rate x 1.01). This is retroactive from 3/3/2021 to 12/17/2020, which is at least 480 hours, so I am expecting at least (rate increase x 480) additional retro pay for year 2 of the contract with additional retro for overtime hours worked since 12/17/2020.

Please let me know when I will be receiving this and what assistance you may need from me to get this accomplished.

Sincerely,

Did I lose money because of the strike?
No, you absolutely did not. Remember, management was offering us almost nothing up until the strike. Without the strike, members would have seen little to nothing for all the work they did throughout the pandemic. You can calculate the minimum amount you will see over the course of the contract by multiplying your hourly rate by the percentage increase for each year of the contract, then adding the totals up. For example, an employee who makes $25 an hour will see a total increase of $8060 over the four years of the contract, and that doesn’t account for step increases, market adjustments, hourly differentials, or merit pay. Cicero-Flyers The across the board raises are the same for all contracts. The year 1 raise is 2%, year 2 is 1%, year 3 is 1.5% and year 4 is 1.5%.

Shift Differentials

Please review the differentials for your contract and shift and confirm your hourly shift differential has been correctly applied. If your differential is incorrect, email mbunnage@seiu73.org.

All differentials applied for employees who are employed by UI Health and Campus Auxiliary Services should be correct. Management has also assured us that every member will receive retro pay for the differentials going back to Dec. 1, 2020, the date our contracts were implemented.

Technical
All Technical hourly shift differentials are in effect. The evening, weekend, and night differentials for the Technical contract are $0.50 more than they were previously. Additionally, the Charge pay is $2.00 an hour and the Preceptor pay is $1.00 an hour. You can review the differentials by job title in appendix B of the contract

Clerical and Service

All the differentials for clerical and service staff have been applied. However, the backpay for shift differentials for staff under Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services is still the process of being calculated and implemented. At this time, the university has not yet provided prospective dates for the back pay.

Introducing Your Union Reps

Staff at the local are assigned to work with specified buildings, departments and colleges of the university. These assignments may change – but for now see the list below to know who the appropriate person to reach out to is for your area. If you do not see your area listed below, reach out to Melinda Bunnage at mbunnage@seiu73.org.

Cathleen Jensen cjensen@seiu73.org