By By Jeanine Poggi
University secretaries in the Local 153 Union prepared to strike once their contracts expired on Aug. 31, decided to settle and sacrifice benefits.
The secretaries’ main concern was with healthcare, Maureen Brown, Local 153 president, said.
“Realistically we know we will have to pay some amount,” she said. “The sad thing is that the University is asking us to contribute the same amount as high paying officers and the president.”
The rest of the faculty and staff pay 10 percent of the premium for individuals and 15 percent of the premium for family coverage.
The average salary for secretaries at the University is $31,000, and starting salary can be as low as $18,000, Brown said.
“Our argument was that we make a lot less than everyone else and that we are the lowest paid group on campus,” Brown said.
While the new contract, which was ratified on Sept. 1, pleased most union members, Brown said the University would not budge at all, making negotiations difficult.
They agreed to pay 10 percent for individual coverage and for family coverage. This will cost secretaries $92 for the first year, $120 for the second year, 12 percent in the third year and 15 percent for the fourth and fifth years.
“In the past, when a fellow union got a higher rate we all got it. Not any more,” said Peggy Ann Matusiak, secretary in Honors College. “The union reps were upset about that. Also, the retirees are not happy with what they got either. We settled.”
Some members are single mothers and plan to take their children off the medical plan because they cannot afford it and will enroll them in the government plan, Child Health Plus, Brown said.
“This is not the contract that I was happy with,” she said. “I wish the University had more compassion for the people who have been here for many years. Many of us ignored the low salaries and came for the benefits.”
It was also decided that anyone able to retire by December 2006 is entitled to the benefits from the old contract.
After December, they will pay 25 percent for medical coverage.
“This also hurts many people because they were counting on their retirement health benefits promised to them when they were hired,” Brown said.
Many of the secretaries have been at the University for over 15 and 20 years, working for low salaries. They expected their medical would be fully paid upon retirement, but most will not reach retirement age by December 2006.
“All University employees, including our clerical and secretarial staff, receive an excellent benefit package that is either equal to or better than the benefits packages available at other colleges and universities,” said Melissa Connolly, vice president of University relations.
The University’s benefit package includes tuition remission, pension, comprehensive healthcare, generous vacation and sick leave policies, as well as other benefits, Connolly said.
“President [Stuart] Rabinowitz is pleased that an agreement was reached with our dedicated clerical and secretarial staff, who play such an important role in furthering the University’s mission,” Connolly said.