UFF-USF

(To all in-unit faculty and professional employees: please provide input on the ratification voting process on the right: “Should the referendum on the 2010-13 collective bargaining agreement be conducted in person or through the online process we used for the last two Memoranda of Understanding?”)

I am voting for the 2010-2013 CBA tentative agreement as a reasonable agreement in very hard times. Bargaining for a successor to the 2008-09 collective bargaining agreement began in May 2009, and bargaining in the last 16 months has been difficult. This is the worst economy in the state for decades, and a number of unions in Florida have either declared impasse or had their employers declare impasse on bargaining. So the fact that the Board of Trustees declared impasse June 1, 2010, is in part a sign of the times.

There are several parts of the proposal that are imperfect from my perspective, most importantly the unequal promotion raises (6% for instructors, 9% plus flat additions for other ranked faculty) and the summer salary cap for the next three years. They are balanced by the gains: increased sabbaticals, retained layoff protection for senior instructors, small raises for this year and next, and making the domestic partner health insurance stipend a permanent part of the contract beyond the ratified MOU. This is not a great contract in comparison with other years for many unions. But it is a contract that retains important protections, makes some small advances, and provides sunset dates for two of the provisions that I think need sunset dates rather than permanent status (supplemental summer teaching pay caps and administrative discretion for pay increases).

When we prepared for the impasse process in June, July, and August, I made sure that going through impasse would be as painful as possible for management without stepping over legal or my personal ethical boundaries. That doesn’t mean that completing the impasse process would have been wise for UFF. The executive director of UFF and I were representing union interests in the second of three days of formal hearings in the impasse process when an opportunity for a settlement arose. It was clearly imperfect, but it was there, and it’s a sane individual who can prepare a solid campaign but step back from the brink of war. Thus, I am voting to ratify the tentative agreement because it is the best or close to the best agreement that was possible at this point in time.

(Note: The chapter’s descriptive entry on the 2010-13 CBA tentative agreement has a growing set of comments.)

(To all in-unit faculty and professional employees: please provide input on the ratification voting process on the right: “Should the referendum on the 2010-13 collective bargaining agreement be conducted in person or through the online process we used for the last two Memoranda of Understanding?”)

UFF and the USF Board of Trustees has tentatively agreed on the last components of a complete collective bargaining agreement. The ratification page will shortly be updated with information about a ratification vote for all in-unit faculty and professional employees, but here is the gist of the changes to the complete contract (from the 2008-2009 agreement):

• 2010-11: 1.5% merit raise pool for all employees who are not new hires as of 2010-11. Eligibility: immediate prior annual evaluations with at least 3 on a 1-5 scale. Distribution: formulaic, same as in 2008-09. To be distributed as soon as practical after ratification by both parties.
• 2011-12: 2.0% merit raise pool for all employees who are not new hires as of 2011-12. Eligibility: immediate prior annual evaluations with at least 3 on a 1-5 scale. Distribution: formulaic, same as in 2008-09. To be distributed August 7, 2011.
• Promotion raises for tenure-stream and library faculty: 9% (same as before), with raises of $3,000 for those rising to assistant librarian, $5,000 for those rising to associate professor/librarian, $7,000 for those rising to full professor/librarian (double prior flat bumps). All to base.
• Promotion raises for instructors: 6%. MOU language on instructor-promotion phase-in included by reference.
• Administration retains discretion in chair stipends and contract length, and stipends for additional duties and responsibilities.
• Administration has 1% salary discretion for 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13.
• Increase in ratio of full-pay, one-semester sabbaticals to eligible tenured faculty, from 1 in 30 to 1 in 25.
• Supplemental teaching summer pay remains proportional to academic-year salary by course, with $12,500 cap in 2011, 2012, and 2013 for a 3-hour course (proportionately scaled for courses with more or fewer hours).
• Clarifying language on rights in assignment in Article 9 (no substantive change).
• Addition to the job-abandonment clause in Article 16 to apply roughly equivalent standards for absences in the academic year to summer teaching.
• Domestic partner health insurance stipend program becomes a formal part of the whole-book contract.
• The administration’s discretion to offer an early retirement incentive program becomes a formal part of the whole-book contract.
• A reduction in release units for the chapter: 3 in each academic-year semester, 2 in summer, 2 for whole-book bargaining in 2012-13.

The rest of the contract remains the same, including provisions on layoffs, academic freedom, tenure and promotion, intellectual property, and so forth.

Comments are open on this entry to provide opportunity for discussion. They are moderated to prevent spam.

Attendance.
There were thirteen members in attendance, including twelve of the Chapter Council, insufficient for a quorum.

Minutes.

• Motion made and seconded to approve the minutes. Motion approved.

Membership.
Discussion of event for new faculty and professionals.

• Motion made and seconded to authorize the expenditure of chapter funds for an event to welcome new faculty and professionals. Motion approved.

Budget.
The treasurer presented a proposed budget.

• Motion made and seconded to approve the budget. Motion approved.

Impasse.
Discussion of the impasse situation.

• Motion made and seconded to purchase “UFF ‘ASK ME ABOUT LAYOFFS’” buttons for chapter members to wear and to distribute. Motion approved.

Chapter Schedule.
The chapter schedule was set for this semester.

• Motion made and seconded that the Chapter shall meet at noon on alternate Fridays, on September 10 & 24, October 8 & 22, November 5 & 19, and December 2, at a place TBA on USF –Tampa except at those times the Chapter schedules it to meet at other campuses. Motion approved.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on August 29, 2010.

Attendance.
There were seventeen members in attendance. There was also a guest.

Introductions.
Introductions.

Membership.
We have new members.

Recognition for many years of exemplary service.

• Motion made and seconded. Resolved, that the USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida expresses its profound gratitude to Dr. Mark Klisch for his years of exemplary service to the United Faculty of Florida, to the University of South Florida, to his colleagues, to students, and to the community. Motion approved unanimously.

Introductions.

UFF Senate Meeting.
The meeting is on September 25, 26, and will be preceded by bargaining and grievance training. Any interested UFF members are invited to contact President Dorn.

State Budget.
Discussion.

Reports.

• Grievances. Discussion of outstanding grievances.
• Treasurer’s Report. We are solvent.
• Bargaining. Discussion.
• Political Action. Discussion.
• Communications. The new electronic system will be delayed.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on August 13, 2010.

Attendance.
There were twelve members in attendance, including eleven of the Chapter Council, insufficient for a quorum of the Council. There was also a guest.

Bargaining.
Discussion of impasse.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on August 4, 2010.

Attendance.
There were ten members in attendance, including nine of the Chapter Council, insufficient for a quorum of the Council.

USF Polytech.
Discussion of outstanding issues.

Bargaining.
Discussion of outstanding issues.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on July 17, 2010.

Good of the Order.
Discussion of outstanding issues.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on July 15, 2010.

Attendance.
There were thirteen members in attendance, including eleven of the Chapter Council, insufficient for a quorum of the Council. And one guest.

Minutes.
The June 4 minutes were discussed.

Membership.
Discussion of membership.

Impasse & Bargaining.
Discussion of the impasse situation.

Summer Pay.
Discussion of incidents in which the summer pay cap was in appropriately applied.

Grievances.
Discussion of outstanding grievances.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on June 20, 2010.

Attendance.
There were nine members in attendance, including eight of the Chapter Council, insufficient for a quorum of the Council.

Impasse.
Discussion.

USF Polytech.
Discussion.

These minutes respectfully submitted by G. McColm on June 6, 2010.

From UFF President Tom Auxter:

UFF United Faculty of Florida
306 East Park Ave.
Tallahassee, FL  32301

                                                                                                                       
June 2, 2010

Dear Colleague:

Now that the budget is signed, how did higher education fare in this year’s Legislature?  The good news is that we saw an increase of 3.5% in recurring revenue, in spite of a three billion dollar shortfall that forced severe cuts for many state agencies. This compares quite favorably with what happened elsewhere. In other states higher education was not spared cuts, and faculty layoffs are now expected in order to balance the budget.

Legislators are responding positively to our “invest in higher education” campaign. This is our second year of running a campaign that spares or minimizes the damage to higher education in a recession — bucking national trends.  Most legislators now accept the premise that investing in higher education is the fastest and strongest way out of a recession.

But we also faced serious threats to our profession in this legislative session, which could easily undermine progress we otherwise can make by investing in higher education. If faculty had not been successfully united in opposition to a series of bad bills this year, progress in the future could be meaningless. 

When the session began, we found ourselves in the middle of intense attacks on public employees in general and on public educators in particular. As one veteran higher education advocate put it, “They are coming at us from all directions.” It is amazing we were finally able to fend off these attacks, but we can fully expect they will continue in next year’s session.

In this year’s session legislators introduced a bill to cut all public employee salaries by 3%. There were 30 bills filed to cut public employee pensions.  (One of them cuts pensions by as much as half.) Another bill would eliminate the health insurance subsidy ($1800 annually) for retired public employees.

In addition, we saw intense attacks on tenure and the retention of experienced K-12 teachers (SB 6) — with reverberations across the nation. The attacks were primarily about changing both the criteria for evaluation of performance and the conditions for retention. Legislators were looking for a way to phase out more highly paid teachers with credentials and replace them with cheaper, inexperienced teachers they thought would be ready to teach with an eye on test scores.

In place of credentials and experience, politicians in the legislative leadership decided that improving student scores on standardized tests would now be the way to reward teachers for merit.  Advanced degrees in specializations like math and science would be discouraged because teachers could no longer pay back heavy education debts with additional salary compensation provided when they finished degrees. In other words, we would dummy down the content of the curriculum with no reward for anything except coaching students on how to improve test scores. Although K-12 teachers were the ones targeted in SB 6, it is clear that faculty would be on the chopping block next.

All of this is the brain-child of Jeb Bush and Senator John Thrasher (now chair of the state Republican Party). They teamed up once before (in 2001) in a failed attempt to abolish the collective bargaining contracts that protect faculty rights to due process, academic freedom, and retention based on credentials and experience.

Against the odds, faculty prevailed — in the midst of sustained attacks by legislators in leadership positions:

1. We defeated the 3% salary cut at the last minute in legislative conference.

2. We defeated all 30 bills limiting pensions and health insurance subsidies. 

3. We even defeated SB 6 — with the help of a veto by Governor Charlie Crist.

How is this possible? It happened because faculty joined forces with public employees and with teachers to make it happen. We contacted legislators in their district offices and made sure they heard our voices. Faculty actively became advocates for higher education — joining efforts by our affiliate, the Florida Education Association, and gaining recognition for our concerns.

We defeated bills that would have seriously damaged our profession. For our entire profession, it has been a life and death struggle.

The struggle is not over. The same politicians that launched a devious plan this year to rob public education of its status as a profession will be back again next year — with more plans and perhaps with a Governor who will back them.

Join us in the fight to defend the values at the heart of our profession. We need the full support of all faculty to stop the attacks. 

Sign the form* to join United Faculty of Florida. The 1% membership already paid for itself three times over when we stopped the 3% salary reduction this year.  Join your colleagues in the struggle for our professional future.

Our strength is in our membership. Every member counts.

Sincerely,

Tom Auxter

President, United Faculty of Florida

*The membership form can be found at http://faculty.ourusf.org/join-uff/ — Join us today.