Author: Kathleen Krach

Dear FSU Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that faculty voted overwhelmingly, 230-4, for the proposed modifications to our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  Thank you to the many of you who were able to vote in the past few days. 

Implementation of the new salary terms is expected to follow this schedule:

We need you NOW!  Collective bargaining is the primary way that our faculty union gives voice to FSU faculty.  Laws passed and signed this spring threaten to curtail that voice.  The new laws include a requirement that at least 60% of faculty must be dues-paying members for our union to retain its representation rights, as well as a ban on payroll dues deduction.  Membership is now available by signing up for direct debit of dues at:  https://uff-fsu.org/get-involved/join/

If you are not already a member, please join NOW.  If you are a member but have not yet signed up for direct debit, please contact our Membership Committee for assistance in making the switch (email us at [email protected])

Best regards,

Jack Fiorito, Vice President

UFF-FSU Chapter

The next step in the bargaining process is the ratification of the negotiated contract by the faculty. This will be a majority vote to accept the negotiated settlement or reject it and send the bargaining teams back to the table for more negotiations.  The ratification vote will take place June 13 and 14^th with times and locations to be announced soon. The complete agreement with details on the various categories in markup format, showing changes, can be found on our web page here.

We are pleased to announce that the UFF and BOT teams settled Article 23, Salaries. While the teams could not agree to the transparency language for Deans’ Merit or a minimum on the Performance increases, we did agree to the largest salary increase we’ve had in recent memory. We would like to thank those who came to the bargaining sessions or participated via Zoom for doing so. It does make a difference!

Regular bargaining updates can be found at our webpage: https://uff-fsu.org

Note that not all categories are awarded to any given faculty member.

SPI raises are awarded to ranked faculty in good standing who have reached the top rank, 7 years after their promotion or last SPI raise.

Performance raises go to all faculty who met or exceeded “FSU’s high expectations” for their 2022 annual evaluation.

Department Merit raises are allocated according to department bylaws which specify criteria and procedures for distribution.  The total amount is the percentage of the total faculty salary rates for that department.

Deans’ Merit is allocated at the sole discretion of the dean.  The total amount is the percentage of the total faculty salary rates for that college/school/unit.

Market Equity raises are allocated to librarians, tenure track, teaching and research faculty who are below the national average salary for their discipline and rank at public universities; this is adjusted for time in rank, previous merit raises, and has a cap and floor amounts.

Administrative Discretionary Increases are awarded by the deans if funds are available and for various awards, counter-offers, increase duties, and extraordinary service to FSU.

The key to a strong Collective Bargaining Agreement is a strong membership base, so if you are not a member, please join! It is more important than ever for us to stand together. https://uff-fsu.org/wp/join

Your UFF-FSU Bargaining Team,

Scott Hannahs, Specialized Faculty, Magnet Lab, Co-Chief Negotiator
Jennifer Proffitt, Professor, Communication, Co-Chief Negotiator
Brian Arsenault, Specialized Faculty, University Libraries
Michael Buchler, Professor, College of Music
Arash Fahim, Associate Professor, Mathematics
Jack Fiorito, Professor, Management
Robin Goodman, Professor, English

Matthew Lata, Professor College of Music, President UFF-FSU

Dear FSU Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the UFF and BOT teams settled Article 23, Salaries. While the teams could not agree to the transparency language for Deans’ Merit or a minimum on the Performance increases, both of which the UFF team made arguments for once again, we did agree to the largest salary increase we’ve had in recent memory.

It has been made very clear to us that President McCullough values merit — as do we, but with clear criteria. We do hope that our concerns regarding merit allocated based on the discretion of deans have been heard and that deans will distribute the money fairly and transparently.

The next step in the process is ratification of the contract, so please be on the lookout for ratification voting dates, times, and locations. In all, the UFF is proud of the gains we made for faculty salaries during this bargaining session. We would like to thank those who came to the bargaining sessions or participated via Zoom for doing so. It does make a difference.

Regular bargaining updates can be found at our webpage: https://uff-fsu.org/ 

The key to a strong Collective Bargaining Agreement is a strong membership base, so if you are not a member, please join! It is more important than ever for us to stand together. https://uff-fsu.org/wp/join/

All the best,

Scott Hannahs, Specialized Faculty, Magnet Lab, and Jennifer Proffitt, Professor, Communication

Co-Chief Negotiators, UFF-FSU