Today, your UFF-FSU bargaining team offered to immediately sign off on promotion increases of 12% for promotion to Associate and 15% for promotion to Full. Unfortunately, negotiations stalled because of the Administration’s insistence on linking promotion increases (the amounts of which are not in dispute) to Administrative Discretionary Increases (ADIs). We have been informed that promotion increases will be delayed. The UFF-FSU bargaining team believes that promotion increases should stand on their own as recognition for faculty who have earned them. The increases should not be contingent on negotiations about an unrelated issue.

Illustrating our good faith, we have agreed to 15 ADIs totaling $173,000 in the last ten days. The administration already has discretion for raises according to section 23.9(a)(6) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

We see the need to put through promotion raises immediately.

Taking a non-emergency item (ADI) off the table when so many important ones are pending would be detrimental to the bargaining team’s ability to get the best agreement possible for faculty. Several significant issues remain unresolved, such as a new performance evaluation system and job security issues for specialized faculty (NTTF).

While this delay is regrettable, the administration is fully able to implement promotion increases retroactively.

Your bargaining team remains committed to bargaining a fair and equitable agreement, and we look forward to returning to the table.