On Tuesday evening, after a twelve hour bargaining session, PSU-AAUP and the administration reached an economic settlement!  read more >

We spent two days this week, including a Sunday session trying to resolve our outstanding issues and preparing for our Thursday, March 10th economic bargaining session. read more >

Conceptual agreement on Individual Professional Development Accounts! But still playing budgetary games… read more >

In our Friday, February 19th bargaining session, we reached a tentative agreement on AP Workload and Terms of Employment issues. Those of you who have been closely following this negotiation know that we’ve spent hours going back and forth with the administrative team about what full-time employment means for academic professionals. read more >

Balance. It’s a delicate, yet crucial part of bargaining. In a bargaining unit like ours that is made-up of diverse constituencies, we strive to find balance in the gains we make for each group. read more >

We had a number of outstanding AP issues (workload, scheduling, weather closures and terms of employment) left to discuss, but we had already generated possible solutions to many of these issues in previous sessions. We started the day off by looking at the options that were currently on the table. After we went over these options, we went into a caucus to consider them. read more >

We began constructing a solution to AP workload issues this session. Although, still in a conceptual stage, the teams are working on a Letter of Agreement, which defines reasonable workload expectations for academic professionals. The agreement also clarifies what it means to be a professional employee. read more >

We came to the table today feeling optimistic about finding a solution to the workload problems our academic professional employees face. In our previous session, we worked-off of an option that the administration had crafted to address AP workloads and terms of employment. We had some very productive discussions about how the option met or failed to meet our interest. It felt like we were moving closer to some kind of resolution. So, our charge for this week was to revise this option based upon the discussions we had in our last session. read more >

Good news! We’ve come to a conceptual agreement that addresses the pay and promotional issues faced by our academic professionals. read more >

It was great to see so many academic professionals attend our bargaining session. Having members in the room shows the administration that our bargaining unit cares about the issues on the table, and it also helps keep our own bargaining team energized and informed. Being able to talk with members helps us have a better understanding of the specific issues our members face and inspires us to push harder to find solutions that will improve people’s working conditions. read more >

Last Friday, we got into some in-depth discussions about how to fix academic professional (AP) pay structures. Currently, academic professionals have little opportunity for advancement in pay or position, so as a group, they face serious salary compression and inversion. For example, on average, Advisor/Counselor I’s with 4-7 years of experience earn less money than those who have been here less than one year. read more >

The University and AAUP are pleased to announce that we have come to two more tentative agreements during contract negotiations read more >

We had a short bargaining session yesterday. At the beginning, we presented a list of data that we’ll need from the administration to process economic issues. We’re going to attempt to use Interest-Based Bargaining to negotiate salary and benefits. Our facilitator has successfully used this process with other educational unions in Oregon, and she assures us that it can work. read more >

We continued our discussions about academic professional issues. We mostly focused on promotion and pay structures. AAUP proposed that we create a step system that provides incremental pay increases based upon years of experience, specific areas of expertise (bilingual, advanced degrees, certifications) and enhanced job duties (such as supervisory or training duties). read more >

We continued to discuss issues for academic professionals at yesterday’s bargaining session, completing the first three steps of the Interest-Based Bargaining Process: Framing the Issue/Question, Identifying Data and Sharing Interests. We agreed to address three main problem categories—Salary Structures/Promotional Opportunities, Workload, Scheduling and Decision-Making input, and Job Security/Evaluation. read more >

We achieved a major victory at the bargaining table! We will have language in our new Collective Bargaining Agreement governing summer pay rates. read more >

At last Friday’s bargaining session, we started off the day discussing some of the task force charges that we have already signed-off on. The Work/Life Balance task force letter of agreement stated that we intended to have a conversation in bargaining about childcare issues that might result in additional task force responsibilities, so we started a brief conversation about childcare. read more >

In our last meeting, we began discussing Summer Session. We had come up with a framing question to guide our discussion: How do we compensate faculty during summer session in a way that is equitable, predictable and sustainable while considering student needs? read more >

Good news from yesterday’s bargaining session… read more >

We completed our bargaining over non-tenure track instructional faculty (NTTF). We have now conceptually agreed upon all of the details of a new system of continuous employment for our instructional NTTF. read more >