The UNM Board of Regents voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the University's pay- increase proposal of 2 percent plus $350 a year for more than 1,000 United Staff-UNM employees.
Contract negotiations between the union and UNM began in May. US-UNM rejected the percent-bonus-based offer in June, favoring instead a step-in-grade increase system, sending the process into mediation, which failed Aug. 7.
"We shouldn't be deciding these kinds of things," Regent President James Koch said after the vote. "I believe in the collective bargaining process and, hopefully, these issues can be resolved that way in the future."
Koch said two other unions at UNM, one representing campus police and the other representing other staff members, had already accepted the 2 percent plus $350 a year.
"We don't want to have to scramble for the funds," he said. "We don't want to have to raise tuition for these raises."
Harry Norton, the union's president, said he was disappointed with the regents' decision.
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"The questions raised by the board about the internal functions of the union didn't help our cause," he said.
Susan Carkeek, vice president of human resources, presented the University's side to the board. Carkeek said the union's step-in-grade proposal would cost UNM about $1.8 million over the next two years - money she said the University doesn't have.
Don Burge, the union's chief negotiator, said by his calculations, the figure was closer to $620,000.
Regent Mel Eaves, who has represented unions in labor disputes during his career as a lawyer, took the reigns from Koch during the US-UNM proceedings.
Eaves said his biggest concern was that of the union's 1,023 members, only about 130 pay dues and only 36 of those voted to take the negotiations to impasse.
Many members don't pay dues because they cannot afford to, Burge said.
Only dues-paying members saw the union's final offer and voted, which Eaves said put US-UNM in violation of the UNM Labor Management Relations Policy.
Burge said the other staff union at UNM also has a minority of members who vote.
"But they voted for the University's proposal and there you have it," Burge said. "Whether the regents like it or not, this is not settled yet."
Burge still has to take the proposal back to union members, he said, and by law, he has to recommend it. Still, the members can choose whether they will accept the raise, and Burge said he does not know what they will decide. If they do not sign the proposal, "it's back to the bargaining table."
"I also fully expect to file grievances over what's happened in this process," Burge said. "In particular for failure to negotiate in good faith. During mediation, we made four substantial changes to our offer. The University didn't offer to change so much as a comma or a period."
Regents and union officials agreed that there are salary inequities at UNM that need to be addressed in the future.
"I have heard today an obvious distrust between the union and the University," Eaves said. "I hope this board of regents and this president can bridge that gulf."
