We want to share an update on the status of retrenchment‑related bargaining, including a current dispute over Article 22, Section 3(e) documentation and several protections AAUP has proposed to reduce layoffs and support affected members. Throughout these bargaining efforts, the Collective Bargaining Team is centering three principles: protecting core contractual rights, maximizing options that prevent or soften layoffs, and ensuring that any tradeoffs are transparent and justifiable to the membership.
Over the past week, the parties have exchanged draft Memoranda of Understanding concerning Article 22.3(e) documentation and timing in the current phase of the retrenchment process. Our latest counterproposal focuses on ensuring that AAUP receives key materials and sufficient time to respond so that the President may consider this input before announcing her provisional plan, while preserving PSU-AAUP’s ability to contest whether the University has met its contractual obligations if required documentation is missing, incomplete, or late.
The administration has indicated that they are especially interested in achieving “certainty” around Article 22.3(e), for this retrenchment cycle, and both sides now need additional time to evaluate whether that can be done without sacrificing core protections. For that reason, by mutual agreement, the bargaining session that had been scheduled for last Friday was canceled, and the parties expect to reconvene once each side has had an opportunity to consider whether a workable package offer is possible.
In addition to the Article 22.3(e) MOU, in the weeks and months leading up to the present, CBT has advanced four major proposals designed to reduce the number of involuntary layoffs and to provide better support for members who are laid off:
- A time‑limited Retirement Incentive Offer (RIO 2) for 2026-2027, giving eligible members the option of a one‑time cash payment or a subsidized “health bridge” toward pre‑Medicare medical coverage, funded through a joint AAUP-University pool, with the goal of generating structural savings that can reduce pressure for involuntary layoffs.
- A Voluntary FTE Reduction (VFR) pilot program, running through the current contract term, that allows eligible instructional faculty to elect temporary or permanent reductions in FTE, with tiered incentive payments funded through a joint AAUP-University pool, and explicitly aimed at minimizing involuntary workforce reductions and layoffs.
- A clarification of the terms “good faith effort” and “reasonable effort” in Articles 17, 18, and 22, including concrete examples of placement and reemployment efforts, a Joint Placement Committee in the case of larger layoffs, and stronger notice and follow-up requirements for laid‑off members, to ensure that these obligations are carried out consistently and meaningfully.
- A clarification of severance options under the existing Article 22 layoff MOA, including when severance will be offered during the notice period, how members who secure outside employment can request severance for the remainder of their notice, the effect of severance on recall rights, and a modest incentive for members who work through their full notice period.
Together, these proposals reflect CBT’s ongoing effort to put forward constructive, concrete tools that (1) give the University additional ways to address budget shortfalls, and (2) reduce the human cost of retrenchment by lowering the number of involuntary layoffs and improving support for those who are laid off. Some of these proposals create new options or incentives. Others clarify and make more workable obligations the University already owes under the contract. We have brought them forward because they would better protect members while also giving the institution alternatives to involuntary retrenchment.
It is possible that the administration’s next step will be to present a package proposal that links an Article 22.3(e) framework with one or more of these programs. If and when we receive such an offer, CBT will evaluate it carefully and with an eye toward protecting our contractual rights, minimizing layoffs and softening their impact, and ensuring that any tradeoffs are justifiable to members.
In solidarity,
Collective Bargaining Team