FAM-L Bargaining Update, Day 7

We continued to make substantial progress at the table today, including a tentative agreement on an article on Separability to ensure the contract will continue to protect you even if a specific provision is rendered invalid by a law or verdict.

Top Things to Know

  • Our new proposal on non-discrimination asks Miami University to commit to expansive, inclusive, and strong protections of rights for all bargaining unit members. The list of groups and issues the university has so far sought to define toward this article is narrow and constricted, while FAM seeks protections for all. 
  • We proposed a revision to our proposal on online instructional content created by librarians, which protects the intellectual property rights of members while assuring academic freedom and high-quality instruction. Negotiations on this issue will continue.
  • Our Memorandum of Understanding on accessibility of meetings, which would enable virtual attendance and participation at meetings that impact the entirety of the university community, has been rejected. Management claims that meeting accessibility is a permissive subject of bargaining that does not relate to our working conditions. Their rejection of this proposal disenfranchises librarians by limiting the ways we can participate in shared governance.
  • At this point, we await Management’s response to over a dozen proposals. See our December 21 report for the list. Each wasted hour at bargaining sessions means more money spent by Management on outside lawyers.

What else happened today?

Other articles that were discussed at the table include grievance and arbitration, and dues deduction. Management passed across a counter on Grievance and Arbitration, which brought them closer to our position, and we continue to evaluate their proposal. We continued to make progress on Dues Deduction (latest from FAM, latest from Management), which governs how and when union dues are transmitted to the Union.

Coming up next

Mark your calendars! Our next FAM-L bargaining session will take place on January 12, followed by the first FAM-T bargaining session of the year on January 17. RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/FAMBargaining. Our team now has two FAM-L dates for February confirmed: February 9 and February 23. 

Wear your button, use your FAM Zoom background, come out in person if possible. Even small actions have large impacts. We all need to keep up the pressure and show the University we stand united!

You can RSVP for specific location and Zoom info for this and other upcoming bargaining sessions at http://tinyurl.com/FAMBargaining.

Solidarity from your FAM Negotiating Team!

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