The second day of librarian negotiations brought loud and clear messages from Management. They formally rejected FAM’s 2% raise MOU – it is clear that they do not value the labor of our librarians and do not feel that they are worth this raise.
They claim that academic freedom is a permissive topic of negotiation — that is, academic freedom is not a subject they want to bargain on, even though it is part of most academic labor contracts. Management’s negotiation team claimed they “do not know of any time a librarian’s academic freedom was challenged.” They see no need to include academic freedom in the contract when “current policy is sufficient.” Yet management’s team then shared that the Dean of Libraries recently had to defend a librarian’s academic freedom from an unspecified challenge. We applaud our Dean’s support, but the current policy makes librarians dependent on the goodwill of their Dean to defend them. It should be based on our contractual rights as academic workers.
Articles and MOUs signed
We exchanged a number of proposals which fell in line with each side’s priorities and values.
Management passed across proposals on Separability, Labor-Management Meetings, and No Strike, No Lockout. These proposals express their intention and hope of keeping our unit members in check and maintaining management control.
Our team passed across new proposals on Shared Governance, Data Sharing, Non-Discrimination, and Association Rights (note that revisions and negotiations are already underway on these proposals). We also proposed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on Course Releases and on representation on the Board of Trustees. We believe in transparency in decision-making. We believe in making Miami a more equitable workplace. We believe in ensuring our members will not be retaliated against for supporting FAM. We remain committed to our members; librarians, we remain committed to you.
Both sides reached tentative agreements on Ground Rules, Recognition, and Labor-Management Meetings, and the MOU on Committees. We also agreed on additional bargaining dates: December 15, December 21, January 8, and January 12.
For a complete list of proposals and MOUs submitted so far and where they are in the process, visit the FAM-L Proposal Tracker (scroll down).
The next FAM-T bargaining session is November 1st and the next FAM-L bargaining session is November 13th. RSVP here for locations and Zoom link: tinyurl.com/FAMbargaining.
Meanwhile: help win a better contract by increasing union leverage at the table — join FAM!
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