Legislation, Bargaining, and More

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Session Summaries:  Although the 2013 Florida legislative session ended more than a week ago, its implications are still unfolding, and Gov. Scott may still veto some items.  Here are some preliminary summaries that came out early-to-middle of last week:

FSU’s Government Relations Office:  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/FSU-SessionSummary2013May6.pdf

Florida AFL-CIO:  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/FLAFLCIO-SessionSummary2013May.pdf

Florida Education Association:  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/FEA-SessionSummary2013May7.pdf

Bargaining Resumes this Wednesday between the UFF faculty team and the FSU BOT team.  The teams will negotiate salaries, benefits, evaluation, and a variety of other issues that are important to faculty.  We will provide periodic updates as negotiations proceed. Continue reading →

2013 Faculty Poll: Don’t You Forget About Me!

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Hundreds of faculty members responded to the 2013 UFF-FSU Faculty Poll. Preliminary tabulations are available at:

http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/FacPoll2013ResultsPostNC.pdf

An expanded edition of the of the report that includes faculty comments that help to clarify and elaborate upon the quantitative results can be found at:

http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/FacPoll2013ResultsPostComments.pdf

More detailed results by college/unit and department/unit will be forthcoming for units for which the number of responses is enough to assure anonymity.

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Report to Faculty Senate, April 24th, 2013

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By Professor Jack Fiorito, Senator and UFF-FSU Vice President

Consultation, Ballots, and Bargaining

Much has happened since our last meeting. Since the March Faculty Senate meeting we held a consultation with President Barron and Provost Stokes and other top administrators. The discussion was wide-ranging and cordial.

That same day we counted ballots in the UFF-FSU Chapter elections. As you probably know, Professor Jennifer Proffitt is our new President. I am pleased to be a Vice President once again.

Earlier this month, chief negotiators for the faculty and administration/trustees teams exchanged lists of contract provisions they intend to renegotiate this year. The lists are fairly lengthy. The teams will roll up their sleeves starting May 15th – negotiating new provisions to take effect July 1st or as soon as possible thereafter.

This Just In … April 2013 Faculty Poll Results

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Academic Freedom Resolution

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The UFF-FSU Executive Council at its April 8th meeting passed the following resolution:

 

The UFF-FSU Executive Council stands with our sister chapter, UFF-FAU, and FAU instructor Dr. Deandre Poole in their defense of academic freedom. Academic freedom is at the heart of academic excellence, the advancement of knowledge, the pursuit of truth and tolerance, the integrity of the university, and the foundation of democratic discourse and must be protected.

Posted on behalf of UFF-FSU President Jennifer Proffitt

Report to Faculty Senate, March 20th

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Collective Bargaining

Our current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires on June 30th … all of it!  In other words, we will be doing what’s called “full book” bargaining.  We will begin negotiations in May and preparations for bargaining are already underway.  Between now and then both sides have to decide which issues they want to renegotiate.

Please help us represent you and other FSU faculty by taking the UFF-FSU poll next month and encouraging your colleagues to do so.

Meanwhile, we are working through implementation of the changes agreed in the fall.  Implementation is among the issues on the agenda for a consultation this coming Monday with President Barron and Provost Stokes. Continue reading →

Report to Faculty Senate, Feb. 20th

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Our annual faculty poll’s question on parking was removed last spring over my objection.  In view of the earlier presentation and discussion and prospects for more parking problems, I plan to argue strongly for putting it back this spring.

We are NOT bargaining, for a change.  You will recall that we concluded bargaining in October.  Discussions on implementation and other matters are expected at two consultations with President Barron, Provost Stokes, and other FSU administration representatives next month.  Bargaining for 2013-14 and beyond is scheduled to begin later this spring.  We will be seeking your views on bargaining in our upcoming poll and in other ways. Continue reading →

Senator Montford on Higher Education Issues

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The UFF-FSU Chapter will be pleased to feature Senator Bill Montford as our special guest for a luncheon on Tuesday, February 26th at 12:30 in the Oglesby Union’s Florida Room.  Senator Montford will discuss issues facing higher education in the upcoming legislative session.  A postable flyer can be found at:

http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/MontfordFeb26.pdf

All FSU faculty members are welcome to attend.  A catered hot lunch will be available, free for UFF members and $12 for others.  If you plan to attend, please notify UFF-FSU Vice President Jennifer Proffitt (jennifer.proffitt@gmail.com).

Florida Supreme Court Retirement Ruling

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Thursday’s Florida Supreme Court ruling did more than dash the hopes of more than 620,000 public workers in the Florida Retirement System who wanted to see 3 percent of their pay returned.  It also opened the doors for lawmakers to make more changes that help the state’s bottom line but cost the school teachers, law-enforcement officers, county employees and state workers.

     From the Tallahassee Democrat, Jan. 18, 2013

Let’s build a stronger voice for faculty.  If you are not already a UFF member, please join!

Full text of the Democrat story:  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/td20130118.pdf

The full text of the Florida Supreme Court 4-3 ruling, including dissenting opinion is available at:  http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/sc12-520.pdf

 

CBA Implementation Updates (Jan. 10)

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Salaries (the new Salary article’s Tentative Agreement [TA] can be found at http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/Art23TA.pdf):

1. Promotion raises, now at 12% and 15%, with back-pay to early August, were implemented in December (See Sec. 23.3(c) of the Salary TA).

2. Merit increases averaging 1% will begin to appear in paychecks on January 25th.  (See Sec. 23.5(b) [second "(b)", whoops!] of the Salary TA).

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Happy New Year! (Updates, Revised)

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Some brief updates that may be of interest:

1.  Implementation of ratified changes to our UFF-FSU Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is proceeding.  At least some promotion raises, now at 12% and 15%, with back-pay to early August, were implemented in December, and at least some merit raises are slated for implementation by January 25th.  Implementation is also proceeding for other raises called for in the revised Article 23, but no information on dates has yet come to our attention (sorry).  Vice President McRorie sent a memo summarizing bylaw changes that will be needed in view of the new contract provisions on evaluation (Article 10) and for other reasons.

VP McRorie’s memo can be found at:

http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/McRorieBylawsMemo20121218.pdf

The ratified 2012 changes to our CBA can be found via the summary of changes at:

http://www.uff-fsu.org/art/BargainingUpdateNov2012.pdf

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