During the seventh mediation session, the teams made no real progress toward reaching an agreement. The following topics are the main points of contention:
- Cost of living adjustment (COLA) – The AAUP bargaining team made movement on COLA to 4.25% in order to encourage the administration to give better layoff language. Their refusal to make significant changes allows us to retract our movement on COLA.
- AP Advancement – To decrease AP turnover, we are fighting for an increase of $800 per year for all APs, rather than the current $1,600 every four years.
- Layoff and recall – If the administration is successful in laying off the 17 NTTF faculty, their plan is to distribute their work to existing faculty and adjuncts. Our proposal would prohibit this. It would also require more notice of layoff and require the use of shared governance before cutting faculty positions.
- Rescinding layoffs – We are still fighting to get the 17 NTTF layoff notices rescinded. The administration made it clear that their unacceptable proposal was a “take it or leave it” offer. This is not a mandatory subject of bargaining, so our ability to win it at the table depends on all of us. To be successful, we will have to use escalating actions and solidarity to reverse the layoffs.
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Getting the contract we deserve will require a continued effort on strike preparation and escalation of our actions. Just emailing out the commitment forms got movement on COLA and bilingual pay in previous sessions. January 30th was the first day we could declare impasse. We are weighing all our options to win the best possible contract since administration took reversing layoffs off the table and hasn’t moved sufficiently on COLA. To grow our bargaining power, PSU-AAUP leadership is asking all members to recruit one coworker to fill out their strike vote commitment form. If a strike vote is called, the greater the number of commitments to vote yes, the greater the margin a strike vote passes by, and the stronger our position to win the best contract. United we win, divided we beg.
Actions to support our bargaining team:
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MEDIATION PROPOSALS – DAY 7
SALARY
The AAUP and Admin teams are NOT ALIGNED on the following:
- This year’s COLA. Admin is proposing a 3.15% COLA plus a $500 “signing bonus,” while AAUP is proposing a 7.5% COLA – or a 4.25% COLA if there can be a side agreement on reversing the layoffs announced in December.
- Post-continuous appointment review. AAUP is proposing $3,000; admin, $2,400.
- AP advancement increases. Admin is proposing an AP advancement increase of $1,500 every three years, while AAUP is proposing an annual increase of $800.
The two sides are ALIGNED on the following:
- Future COLAs indexed to the inflation rate (min = 1.75%, max = 3.5%)
- Annual compression, inversion, and equity (CIE) increases for faculty and targeted market increases (TMI) for APs. Funding pools between 0.71% and 0.92% of aggregate salaries.
- Post-tenure review: $5,100.
- Bilingual pay premium: 5%
- Individual Professional Development Accounts (IPDA) at current levels
RESEARCH and TRAVEL FUNDS
The AAUP and Admin teams have a TENTATIVE AGREEMENT on all of these funds:
- Faculty Development Program: $675,000
- Family Friendly Fund: $175,000
- Faculty Conference Fund: $150,000 in 2026; $75,000 to $200,000 after
- Research Bridge Fund: $150,000 in 2026; $75,000 to $200,000 after
PROJECTED COSTS
Relative to FY 2024, the cumulative budget impact of most recent mediation proposals at the end of a 4-year contract are:
- Admin: $23.5 million
- AAUP: $31.4 million -- $7.8 million more
- AAUP w/side agreement on layoffs: $26.1 million -- $2.5 million more
NEXT PHASE
Negotiations are now past the required minimum mediation period, which means PSU-AAUP or Admin may declare impasse. If impasse is declared,
- Within 7 days, each side submits its best and final offer, to include total projected costs.
- After the publications of best and final offers, a 30-day cooling-off period begins. We may continue to negotiate.
- At the end of the cooling-off period, either or both of us may exercise our “self-help” options. The union may strike. The university may implement their final offer.
- The PSU-AAUP Constitution requires a vote of the active membership before a strike may be authorized or undertaken.
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