Bargaining Update, August 10, 2011

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[Posted on behalf of Robin Goodman, UFF-FSU Chapter Secretary and Bargaining Team Member]

The UFF-FSU bargaining team is happy to announce that at the August 8th bargaining session the BOT team acknowledged our cogent arguments on most positions. And more: due to UFF’s persistence and diligence at the bargaining table, the Board of Trustees’ team agreed to give us not only the 3% performance-based increase with a $1,500 floor, not only the $750 per FTE merit bonus based on the department/unit merit procedure evaluations completed in Spring semester 2011, not only the expected promotion raises, but also an additional $150 bonus funds per FTE of merit for deans to distribute!

We thank everyone in the bargaining unit for your patience and support during these difficult negotiations.

We also are grateful to the administration for their continued willingness to return to the bargaining table. Their ability to understand our position in defense of the contract language regarding departmental merit evaluation criteria and procedures was key in reaching these agreements. In the end, we were able to reach consensus on how meritorious and deserving of recognition so many of our faculty have proven to be. We laud you on your accomplishments!

The new salary amounts are effective immediately, with no money lost due to the delay.

When the new semester begins, we will be asking you to ratify these agreements.

LINKS:

The Salary (Article 23) Tentative Agreement

The Merit Bonus Memorandum Of Agreement

Bargaining Update, August 5, 2011

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Bargaining Update
August 5, 2011

Summary: The UFF and the BOT bargaining teams met Monday, August 1st and Wednesday, August 3rd to continue salary negotiations (Article 23 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or CBA) that began in June and continued throughout July.
The good news is that both sides are in substantial agreement about implementing a three percent (3%) raise; the only disagreement on this issue is whether or not the lowest-paid faculty receive a minimum payment, which is what the UFF proposes and the BOT is considering.

The bad news is that agreement on the salary article has been delayed. The BOT (Board of Trustees) bargaining team claims that the delay might mean that none of the upcoming academic year’s salary changes–including promotion raises and the three-percent raise–can be administered by the start of the new pay period. The UFF is willing to meet continually to reach an agreement, would sign an agreement today that permits these raises to go through, and will negotiate to have any raises applied retroactively if agreement isn’t reached before the first paycheck. The dispute centers on the language of the one-time “merit” bonus. The UFF believes that the evaluation procedures as written in the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement), elaborated in department bylaws, and approved by various levels of the administration must be respected. The BOT team instead wants to circumvent the language in the contract and retroactively apply a different distribution scheme.

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CBAs (Contracts), Bargaining, and Web Updates

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Have you received your 2010-2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement (the white contract)?

Through the help of many generous volunteers, we have completed our initial distribution effort. With almost 1700 represented faculty (also known as “covered by the contract,” “in unit,” or “part of the General Faculty Bargaining Unit” at FSU), a distribution effort spread over several weeks, summer holidays, and other complications, we have surely missed a few of you. Please let me know if you have not yet received the new (white cover) “CBA” ([email protected] ). We will do our best to get one to you as soon as possible.

Collective bargaining continues for the 2011-12 academic year. Negotiations resume Monday at 2pm at the FSU Training Center. We hope to wrap up salary negotiations then, that is, to come up with new salary provisions to replace some of the current provisions in the 2010-13 CBA. We then plan to move on to some previously tabled issues, including academic freedom, evaluation, and new classifications for non-tenure track faculty.

Web Updates! Our UFF-FSU web site and email lists have undergone a major overhaul. Please take a look at the new web site (same address, www.uff-fsu.org ) and tell us what you think. We are trying to make it easy to find information, and easier to provide updates (you won’t notice that initially). You will immediately notice a different look and feel for the revamped web site. So please take a look, and direct your comments to the Chair of our ad hoc committee on web redesign, Prof. Phil Steinberg ([email protected] ). We have also updated our email list servers, but you will probably not notice more than a slight difference. You got this message, right? Glitches and gremlins in the changeover are possible of course, and we apologize in advance for any problems that may arise.

August First Friday

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The August First Friday gathering will be held from 5:00-7:00 on Friday, August 5 at the Fermentation Lounge, 113 All Saints Street (in the shadow of the Department of Education building). As always, this is a chance for UFF members and their guests (fellow faculty, family, friends, etc.) to unwind as well as discuss recent happenings at the university.  UFF will provide light snacks.

July 2011 Bargaining Update

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Negotiations between the UFF and the Board of Trustees (BOT) for the 2011-2012 began in late spring and are ongoing. Below are some key points about bargaining progress and what is on the agenda:

The UFF bargaining team is pleased to announce that we are near agreement on Across the Board raises (ATB). Last year, while negotiating the one-time-ATB payment, we proposed implementing a raise rather than a one-time-payment. The president said that he would try, and we are happy that he has now agreed to make last year’s bonus a raise to base salary. We appreciate the efforts on the part of the president and the Board of Trustees to find funding for raises, particularly in a year of drastic budget cuts and political intransigence at the state level. The president recognizes that the faculty deserve to be rewarded. A few important details remain to be resolved, but the UFF team has every intention of coming to an agreement by the August 5th deadline that the BOT team says is required so the raises will appear in the first paycheck of the academic year.

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