UCLAFA Member Dues Alignment
November 18, 2024
The following information supplements the message emailed to UCLAFA members on November 22.
Under the newly ratified Bylaws, significant dues increases require membership approval. (See bylaws: Article VII, Section 1)
Background
UCLA FA has not increased its dues for at least 20 years, unlike its sister chapters in other UC campuses that have been aligning their dues regularly.
Things have come to a crucial stage now because CUCFA has recently increased its member dues for all FA chapters in June 2023 and again in Jan 2024. (CUCFA provides all of the staffing support for UCLA-FA and also pays a portion of these dues on to the statewide California Federation of Labor and the National AAUP.)
Hence, for over a year, UCLA FA has been topping up FA member dues to CUCFA, paying out of our reserves an extra $5.25 for every Full Professor, an extra $5.75 for every Associate Professor, and an extra $2.50 for every Assistant Professor.
Current Monthly Member Dues (UCLAFA, and CUCFA)
| Each UCLAFA member pays | UCLAFA pays CUCFA | UCLA FA pays out of pocket | |
| Assistant | 8.75 | 11.25 | -2.5 |
| Associate | 13.5 | 19.25 | -5.75 |
| Full | 18 | 23.25 | -5.25 |
The UCLA FA Executive Board has therefore recommended an alignment of member dues with our sister FA chapters, shown in the table below. The guiding rationale for these proposed rates reflect a policy choice to increase the progressivity of the rates by rank, such that Assistant Professors are mostly insulated from the increases, with the bulk falling on Associate Professors and, even more on Full Professors. It should also be noted that inflation between 2004 and 2024 has been roughly 66%, which corresponds to the % by which member dues for Full Professors have increased, under these proposed rates.
Recommended Monthly Member Dues for UCLAFA
| New Proposed UCLAFA Dues | CUCFA Receives | UCLA FA pays/retains | |
| Assistant | 10 | 11.25 | -1.25 |
| Associate | 20 | 19.25 | 0.75 |
| Full | 30 | 23.25 | 6.75 |
Range of Monthly Dues among 10 UC FA chapters (2023)
| Range of Monthly Dues | |
| Assistant | 8–13 |
| Associate | 13.50–23.50 |
| Full | 22–32 |
These proposed rates will enable UCLA FA to:
– Pay CUCFA dues without needing to dip into our reserves
– Align our member dues with sister UC FA chapters
– Provide cost-of-living wage increases to CUCFA staff who provide crucial support
– Replenish our reserves
We hope that the FA membership will support this proposal, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have at the Special Meeting.
Register for the special meeting Zoom session, where this proposal will be discussed and voted on, to be held Tuesday, December 3rd, starting at 7 pm.
The UCLAFA Executive Board