At faculty bargaining this week, with your help, we made meaningful progress on numerous priorities. FAM and management are down to trading two large packages:
- Economic package: Compensation; Benefits; Leaves; Professional Development Leaves; and Duration
- Non-economic package: Faculty Evaluations; Appointment and Promotion of Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty; Appointment, Renewal, and Promotion of TCPL Faculty; MOU on Artificial Intelligence; Labor-Management Meetings; and Separability
This week, we’ve exchanged economics four times. In addition to making movement on Compensation around annual increases and summer/winter/overload pay, we made significant movement on Benefits as well, adopting the more flexible health insurance framework desired by management (allowing them to make changes within plans) in exchange for language protecting our members’ out-of-pocket costs.
But we are not in agreement on the economics yet. Management is proposing raises in years two and three that are far too low (3% / 2.5% / 1.75%), while FAM is proposing 4.75% / 4.5% / 4.25%. We are still fighting for better numbers that control our members’ health insurance costs as well. On the other hand, we are aligned on Leaves, Professional Development Leaves (including a new right for TCPL faculty to apply for FILs), and Duration.
On non-economics, we are still trying to reach agreement with management regarding Faculty Evaluations, AI, Performance Improvement Plans, Labor-Management Meetings, and Grievance and Arbitration (while we are aligned on the other articles in that package). In particular, management is still trying to limit whether, when, and how we can enforce the contract through the grievance and arbitration process.
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
We need you to put pressure on management so that we can close this faculty contract once and for all (and win strong benefits for all employees at the University).
Management backs down ⬇️ when faculty show up ⬆️!
Here’s how you can help win great raises and Benefits for you and your colleagues:
- Turn out to bargaining in August!!: August 10, 12 (Zoom only), 24, 26, 28
- Come to the FAM Strategy Summit, August 11, 11:00am-1:00pm at Oxford Lane Library
While we made progress this week, we’re not done yet — and we still need you to pressure management. RSVP here to join us at our August bargaining sessions!
When attending bargaining, we suggest arriving (or signing into the Zoom) between 10 and 11am — our first table session usually takes place in the late morning or early afternoon, with other sessions likely to be between 2 and 5pm throughout the day. Join the FAM Slack to get real-time announcements about table times: write info@famiami.org.
When we fight, we win!
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