EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Your UAOSU bargaining team and the administration team met from 9:30-4:00 on Friday, December 20, 2024, in Cascades Hall. We brought a Letter of Agreement on the CGE Strike articulating our position on faculty rights related to work expectations. The Administration brought counter proposals on Academic Freedom, Classification and Rank, Appointment and Reappointment, and Termination Not for Cause. At the end of the session, the administration team presented a packet that included proposals on Leaves, Benefits, Term of Agreement, and Compensation. Though minor progress was made in raising minimum salaries and sea pay, the lack of salary pools that guarantee minimum raises and offers of 1.8% raises for satisfactory reviews resulted in an overall assessment of ‘Bah, Humbug’ for the session.
UPCOMING SESSIONS
Use the links below to add these to your calendar:
- Fri Jan 10 9:30am-12pm Cascade Hall 135
- Thurs Jan 16 9:30am-4pm Cascade Hall 135
- Thurs Jan 23 9:30am-3:30pm Cascade Hall 135
- Wed Jan 29 9:30am-12:30pm Cascade Hall 135
FULL UPDATE
We began by discussing the CGE Strike and its impact on faculty. We proposed a Letter of Agreement clarifying our expectation that faculty should not have been expected to take on striking employee work without compensation nor have any negative repercussions for declining such work. We have also filed an information request to get a clearer sense of the strike’s impact on our bargaining unit members. If you have any information/experience you would like to share, please reach out to info@uaosu.org.
Counter offers from the Administration:
Academic Freedom. The administration again deleted language on shared governance. Although we have language in other articles of the contract discussing shared governance at multiple levels (including units), the administration continues to resist additions that clarify and affirm faculty rights to shared governance. We continue to argue that shared governance plays a significant role in our working conditions and that all faculty who want it should have the right – and FTE – that ensures they can participate.
The administration again struck language explicitly ensuring a right to academic freedom and free expression in faculty workspaces, a proposal we wrote in response to changes to university policy announced in Fall 2023.
Finally, we are also closer to agreement on language clarifying faculty authority to assign grades and limiting the circumstances in which those grades can be altered.
Classification and Rank. Several areas of disagreement emerged from this discussion.The administration again insisted on retaining different categories of instructors (PAC, ESL, and ALS). They also struck language when an individual is reclassified from one NTT category to another, a competitive search could be waived and the individual could not be paid less in their new category. They also again struck language we proposed that would ensure that anybody doing bargaining unit work would receive a bargaining unit position for that portion of their work. We will continue to negotiate on these important issues.
Termination Not for Cause and Appointment and Reappointment. While we had been encouraged by an agreement to replace fixed-term contracts to continuous appointments following first promotion, the administration team has introduced barriers to ensuring these appointments would provide more stable appointments. As we proposed it, faculty on continuous appointments would be protected by the Termination Not for Cause article, which specifies the circumstances under which a position can be eliminated or someone’s FTE can be reduced. The administration’s proposals in these two articles, as presented, would be a step backward, undermining FTE protections even for tenure-track and tenured faculty. We assured the administration team that this was a non-starter for us. It seems clear that the administration team did not fully understand the implications of the proposals we previously exchanged. We will continue to fight to win real job stability for non-tenure-track faculty.
A well-needed caucus took place, and upon return, the administration team brought a stack of underwhelming economic-related proposals.
Leaves. The administration again struck our language expanding access to sabbatical leave, insisting that sabbatical leave is for tenured faculty only. They also continued to strike language describing how our paid family and medical leave works in conjunction with other available leave. We will continue to propose that the 120 hours of family and medical leave not be prorated for part-time employees and that those hours be used prior to sick leave whenever possible.
Benefits. The only remaining disagreement is related to our proposed increase in tuition benefits, which would increase tuition credits from 12 to 16 and allow family members to split the benefit.
Term of Agreement. The administration proposed a 5 year agreement. We disagree with this length, especially with their minimal compensation proposal and unknowns regarding future inflation pressures. We do not want to lose our ability to bargain over wages as the cost of living rises. We are also concerned about a long contract given this administration’s repeated suggestions that they will only work with us to solve problems outside of bargaining when forced by the law.
Compensation. The administration again rejected our proposed inflation-related peer adjustment that mitigates the reduction in buying power experienced over the past few years and our proposed across-the-board raises, which would keep salaries from falling further behind. They propose only merit raises, and these would look very different from the merit raises we won in our first CBA. Historically, the administration has used salary ‘pools’ that guarantee a set amount of money goes out to bargaining unit members and we codified this in the merit raises in our first CBA and our financial reopener. The administration is refusing to commit to any salary pools, instead proposing merit raises that would guarantee continued erosion in the purchasing power of our salaries and that would increase salary disparities between colleges and units. Bargaining unit members with satisfactory performance could count on just 2% in AY24-25 and just 1.8% in subsequent years of the contract.
The administration team could offer no explanation for the disjuncture between financial forecasts presented to the Board of Trustees, which anticipate significant growth over ten years, and their salary proposals, beyond vague anxiety about an enrollment cliff and the vague need to be “responsible” with resources.
The administration did agree to increasing salary minimums (by 7% for most faculty and 11% to FRAs and RAs) but refused to raise these minimums annually. The increase is an important win, but it affects less than 10% of bargaining unit members. We have also gotten them to agree to double sea pay to $200/day and to allow PIs and units to pay higher rates.
The first bargaining session of January is 9:30am-12pm on Friday, January 10 in Cascade Hall 135. We plan to bring back compensation. Your attendance matters: demonstrate to the administration that faculty demand a contract that provides the equity, respect, and stability we deserve.
You can find a list of the currently scheduled bargaining sessions, as well as read our updates and proposals at uaosu.org/bargaining.
Our power in negotiations comes from all of us working together as a united faculty. Becoming a member is the first step in supporting your bargaining team and securing a strong second contract . You can become a member online by going to uaosu.org/join.
In solidarity,
Lori Cramer and Your Bargaining Team