The UFF-FSU Chapter will host a luncheon featuring our new VP for Faculty Development and Advancement, Sally McRorie, on Wednesday, Sept. 26th at 12:30pm in the Oglesby Union’s Florida Room. A postable flyer with more information is available at: https://uff-fsu.org/art/fly20120926McRorie.pdf
If you have not already done so, please let me know if you plan to attend the September 26th luncheon with VP McRorie by replying to this e-mail. Also please let me know if you plan to bring a guest. A hot catered lunch will be provided — no charge for UFF members and their guests, $12 for others.
Bargaining Update: The faculty and administration/BOT teams have continued to meet regularly over the last several weeks. Issues under discussion include performance evaluation, promotion, tenure, academic freedom, specialized faculty reclassification, benefits, and restructuring of salary-related provisions (Articles 23 and 25). At a negotiating session on August 29th, the teams exchanged proposals. The Admin/BOT team agreed to respond to the UFF’s salary-related proposal, but was not ready to do so at the most recent session on Sept. 5th. The next sessions are scheduled for today (Monday) and Wednesday (Sept. 17 and 19) at 2pm at the FSU Training Center.
What about promotion raises? Promotion raises are part of ongoing salary-related discussions, but there has been no concrete change since our faculty bargaining team co-chairs’ August 12th announcement. That is, the Admin/BOT team has offered to boost promotion raises to 12 percent (e.g., to Associate Prof/Associate in/Associate Librarian.) and 15 percent (e.g., to Prof/Research Associate/University Librarian) but only on the condition that the UFF faculty team also extend the Admin/BOT authority to grant Administrative Discretionary Increases (“ADI raises”) through June 30th, 2013 as part of this offer. The faculty team immediately offered to sign off on the changes for promotion raises, unconditionally. The faculty team pointed out that the Admin/BOT currently has authority to award ADI raises subject to UFF approval. The Admin/BOT has awarded 22 such raises totaling over $234,000 since July 1 without UFF objection. The latest stated position of the Admin/BOT is that promotion raises will be implemented only upon agreement between the parties that includes extending the agreement on ADI raises, and will not be retroactive to the effective date of the promotion. The UFF faculty team has repeatedly indicated a willingness to agree on the new promotion raise rates, unconditionally, and has insisted (and will continue to insist) that such raises apply retroactively.
As you probably realize, the Admin/BOT’s authority to grant ADI raises is a creation of our Collective Bargaining Agreement, and is a critical part of that Agreement. Our faculty team is properly insisting that it will not surrender that authority through next June without a more comprehensive agreement.
Thank you for your understanding.