Today, our faculty-librarian negotiating team sat at a long table across from two outside lawyers, a couple of lawyers from the Miami General Counsel office, and three deans from 10am till almost 7pm on the VoA campus. We had a collegial discussion and reached agreement on several items. Much remains to discuss!
We can tell you more at the inaugural FAM Membership Meeting on Friday, September 8, 12-1pm — enjoy pizza with your bargaining update! RSVP here.
Highlights
- Successfully decided on ground rules to FAM’s liking: all bargaining unit members are welcome to observe bargaining sessions in person or on Zoom!
- Introduced our MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on extending the 2% raises (already budgeted for by the university) to unit faculty and librarians as well as other faculty and staff
- Introduced proposal for the librarian and faculty units to bargain together for the same agreement, which would be more efficient and a significant cost savings for the university at what they are saying is a challenging time for spending (read Ginny Boehme’s passionate and convincing speech)
- Formalized agreement that professional development funds can continue as normal in the various departments, that counteroffers for retaining great faculty can continue, and that no one should face impediments to obtaining outside grants
- Made progress on restarting the work of suspended shared governance committees. The university has agreed to resume some (e.g., Center for Teaching Excellence, Awards & Recognition, Faculty Research), but the rest need to resume as well. If the university had come to FAM before, we would not need to clear up unwarranted hold-ups like this, which are in no way created by the union. (Bargaining delays in combination with red tape are a common tactic advised by lawyers to try to frustrate employees and reduce union support.)
Do join colleagues for the Membership Meeting, where members will vote on the Bargaining Platform and we can share more about the first session!
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