FAM: “What happens if every week is a 75-hour workweek?”
Management: “Then you work 75 hours every week.”
Today at FAM-L bargaining, our joint faculty-librarian Negotiating Team presented a fabulous suite of benefits proposals that would improve life for our members. Our proposals cover bargaining unit members’ health insurance, dental and vision insurance, paid parental leave, dual career hires, and tuition remission, making Miami a more attractive place to work.
By contrast, management presented proposals (Scope of Librarian Duties, Annual Evaluations, and Discipline and Discharge) that, if they have their way, would leave us with fewer rights than we currently have — an egregious proposition given this unit’s unanimous Union Yes! vote last year. Their proposals lack clarity about our role at Miami — seeking to radically change our annual evaluation and promotion process as well as potentially redefining our professional responsibilities. They claim to be attempting to streamline processes, while their proposals would actually muddy waters by creating two different processes for librarians versus library management.
Additionally, our team passed a counter on Grievance and Arbitration, which is the enforcement mechanism built into the contract. And they rejected our financial exigency proposal, saying that management has the sole right to decide all issues related to economic emergencies — from budget cuts to layoffs (we’ll see!).
FAM’s negotiating team will continue to fight for the rights of our librarians. We maintain librarians are faculty, and deserve equivalent rights. We formed a union for that precise reason.
To force management’s hand, we need you: fill out a commitment card. Talk to your supervisor and see what they think. Become a member if you haven’t already. Show up at the Board of Trustees meeting on February 23 and then come to the next FAM-L bargaining immediately after to show that you stand in solidarity with FAM.
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