Today at FAM-L bargaining, it was clear that the people at management’s table were not the ones making the decisions. Instead, they are being forced by upper administration to stall this deal. Who on their side is really making the decisions and why aren’t they at the table themselves? By contrast, we are a united unit and have the authority to make decisions for ourselves.
We had an in-depth brainstorming discussion at the table about promotion criteria, specifically how service and scholarly/creative activity would be evaluated for annual review and promotion. Notably, management continues to insist that librarian teaching is not part of our job duties and would not be covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
We shared a counter on Financial Exigency and Retrenchment, including language about mandatory furloughing of librarians. This article would protect our members in cases of financial exigency (formal declaration that an institution is facing a financial crisis that threatens its survival). We also countered on Evaluation of Administrators, insisting on our right to review middle management.
Management passed across four counters in which they made zero movement toward our position AT ALL, just holding to their language from last time. They passed Leaves and Other Time Off Work. Then they rejected six of our most important articles, including Shared Governance and Academic Freedom. Management continues to insist that librarians do not have nor do they need academic freedom, a position with which we strongly disagree.
We refuse to back down. Our team almost immediately introduced a new counter on Academic Freedom and are awaiting their response. We are also committed to getting this deal done. At our insistence, we will be working with members of management’s team to make progress on issues about Promotion and Continuing Contract between now and next session.
You can read all proposals in full at our website!
We need YOU! Try your best to come out to FAM-T bargaining this Thursday at 10:45 at Wilks Conference Center in Hamilton! Wear FAM RED!
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FAM Tip of the Day
Did you know you can help win fair raises and a strong contract while answering work emails, sitting in Zoom calls, and posting on social media?
Download FAM profile pics and Zoom backgrounds at https://tinyurl.com/FAM-Swag to show colleagues and management alike that FAM has majority support and that you and your colleagues will keep the pressure on till the contract’s won!
PS: Get answers here to your questions about raises, pace of bargaining, and more.
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