Dear Colleagues,
As the graduate employee strike moves into its fourth week, your union has been receiving numerous reports of faculty being asked to cover the duties of striking workers against their objections – in many cases without meaningful (or any) offsets to their own workload, discussions about compensation, and in some cases with threats of potential discipline for refusal. While the direction to cover work is typically happening at the unit level, we’ve seen enough shared language in emails and reports from faculty meetings to know that the pressure is ultimately coming from central administration in the name of “continuity” in the face of CGE’s legal strike action.
Our previous communications to the bargaining unit acknowledged that some conversations about coverage were appropriate, but faculty should not have to bear the imposition of major changes to working conditions against their objections.
Accordingly, and consistent with public employee labor law, we have issued a demand to the administration to bargain. Our demand to OSU administration includes:
- Bargaining over the coverage of striking employee work due to legal obligations of management
- A clear directive to cease and desist the unilateral imposition to working conditions until the bargaining process is completed
If necessary, we are prepared to file an unfair labor practice charge with the state Employee Relations Board to defend the rights of faculty if the administration does not comply.
We will approach bargaining with the expectation that faculty should not be forced to cover work in addition to their own workload, that any offsets offered must be legitimate and truly make up for any extra work being taken on, that additional compensation may be required in some cases where work coverage was unavoidable, and that any threats or use of discipline by the administration is absolutely inappropriate.
Unfortunately, any legal processes we need to engage in will be slower than the rapidly changing conditions “on the ground,” especially as we approach the close of the term. This is similarly true of any bargaining process. We also cannot predict how the administration will handle this situation, either centrally or at the unit level. We expect there may well be some continued insistence on work coverage and threats of discipline. It is important for faculty to continue to use their best judgment when dealing with work coverage issues and the demands of supervisors. As such, it may still be appropriate to file grievances in those units where supervisors have doubled down on work coverage without offsets or compensation – and, in some cases, even where they have made vague and unfair offers of offsets that do not adequately reflect the work coverage being demanded.
Please continue to forward us information and bring us questions as you navigate these difficult situations. You can email info@uaosu.org, or reach out to a representative, officer, or staff member. We will continue to support and defend faculty in every way we can, and we continue to hope that the administration will reach a fair agreement with our graduate employees as soon as possible.
In solidarity,
Your UAOSU Executive Council