On October 20 we reported about the meeting PSU-AAUP had with the members impacted in IELP and the specific issues that need to be addressed.
On November 6 we submitted a proposal for a Memorandum of Agreement addressing those affects. As you will see, many of the proposals address the specific issues brought forth by the members.
On December 3 we received the administration's counter proposal. This counter proposal contained language that, at best, made the language about layoff of equivalent positions in seniority order ambiguous or, at worse, would have rendered the language meaningless. This was a non-starter for PSU-AAUP. We met with IELP members on December 4, and they, too, were alarmed by that language.
At Labor Management on December 6 we advised administration that we could not accept any language that rendered the CBA language meaningless, or that conflicts with other parts of the contract. Administration were concerned about being able to select members for layoff based on their ability to perform administrative duties in release time positions that instructional faculty members historically rotate through. As the members in IELP advised us on December 4, many instructional faculty members have served in those roles, and most instructional faculty members who are left could perform in those roles. We responded at the Labor Management meeting that those duties performed on release time were not positions for the purposes of Article 18 Section 2, and in our judgement, should have no bearing on the order of layoff.
On December 7 we submitted our written counter proposal. We struck out all aspects of the proposal that we believed conflicted with current language and we undesireable. We await their counter, or acceptance of our proposal. If we do not reach agreement on the effects of the layoff, then PSU-AAUP can file grievances on any aspect of the layoff, as evidenced in the notices received by members, that we believe conflict with the CBA.
I would also add that much of the dispute could pivot on time served at the University. On November 27 we submitted an Information Request for the seniority list that will determine the order of layoff.
DB 12/8/17