On March 4, 2026, CU-UAW and CalArts met for another session of consolidated bargaining. CalArts provided counterproposals to CU-UAW’s proposals on Personnel Records, Union Security, and Work Travel, and also further discussed healthcare benefits. CU-UAW provided its initial proposal on Retirement.
CU-UAW had proposed a Union Security article for the collective bargaining agreement requiring all employees in the bargaining unit to become union members as a condition of employment (subject to, among other things, “Beck rights” for employees and/or those who elect to pay an agency fee to the union in lieu of union dues); requiring CalArts to deduct union dues from the wages of CU-UAW members; and requiring CalArts to terminate the employment of employees who do not pay union dues or Beck/agency fees. CalArts has already agreed to these provisions. What CalArts stated it would not additionally agree to do is deduct and collect other union fees, such as initiation fees, from the wages of employees. Not all unions require members to pay initiation fees through a mandatory payroll deduction. While CalArts does not play any role in how the union sets its various dues and fees, CalArts is within its rights to decline to accept administratively burdensome responsibilities to collect and remit other categories of fees from the wages of employees. CalArts also would not agree to continue to deduct such dues if the collective bargaining agreement expires, stating if CU-UAW would like CalArts to continue doing so it can either agree to a new CBA or agree to an extension of the forthcoming CBA until a new one is in place.
On CU-UAW’s Work Travel proposal, CalArts countered with the Institute’s current Travel and Expense policy. This policy was finalized and published in 2025 after employees of CalArts requested an updated policy. A group of employees (through shared governance) spent significant time working on the policy, and the policy went through both IRS compliance and legal review. After spending significant resources updating such a policy at employees’ behest, it would be imprudent and wasteful to do away with such a compliant, standard policy. CalArts requested that if CU-UAW had additions or changes it would like to make to the policy, it should fashion a proposal that builds upon the policy or requests changes to specific sections.
On healthcare benefits, CU-UAW informed CalArts that it is filing an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). CalArts denied any ULP and reminded CU-UAW of the steps it took being consistent with the status quo, and that CalArts met with CU-UAW in multiple special sessions to negotiate the options for this year’s upcoming open enrollment, and negotiated with CU-UAW to impasse, which included responding to CU-UAW’s counter by changing it position to be more favorable to employees in its final proposal. Additionally, CalArts informed CU-UAW that it is still willing to negotiate the healthcare emergency fund with CU-UAW, which is currently under healthcare regulatory and ERISA review. In addition, CalArts informed CU-UAW that its broker is looking at healthcare captives (pooled cooperatives), like edHealth, to explore if CalArts can join such captives if the healthcare rates are better.