BARGAINING, PSU-AAUP, HIGHER ED FACULTY, ACADEMIC PROFESSIONALS

Administration’s final offer

March 04, 2025 / PSU-AAUP

Thursday, we received administration’s final offer. Unfortunately even after over 170 hours of bargaining, mediation, and impasse, administration is resisting making meaningful changes to layoff protections or respecting shared governance.

The importance of additional layoff protections is underscored by the way administration -per our pending grievance- violated our contract and disrespected shared governance processes with NTTF layoff notices. With administration planning for additional layoffs in 2026 and 2027, our AAUP bargaining team’s layoff language would prohibit the administration from redistributing the work of laid off employees. This is aimed not only at keeping members employed in economically viable positions, but also forcing the administration to engage in a layoff process that respects shared governance and is truly strategic, and not just an exercise in cost-cutting.

At the end of spring term, 17 NTTF will lose their jobs. With them gone, there are about 150 courses that will have no instructor. Rather than offer fewer courses, the administration’s plan is to force full-time faculty to take on some of those courses, or give the courses to adjunct faculty. In some cases, the laid off faculty members have been offered adjunct positions starting next fall, teaching the same courses they have been teaching as full-time faculty, but for less pay and no benefits.

Due to our signing strike commitment forms and declaring impasse, the administration raised its COLA offer to 3.25% in its best and final offer. However, that is still well below what our team and our members calculate is needed to make up for ground we lost with the exceptionally high inflation rates during the pandemic. The financial strains we are experiencing, especially with the ever-rising price of food and housing, make it critical to earn a substantial COLA in order to keep pace with those everyday costs.

Now that we’re past final offers, a strike vote is our final opportunity to move administrators before a strike. If we’re going to win respect for shared governance, additional layoff protections, and a cost of living increase that helps departments attract and retain talent before going on strike, we need all PSU-AAUP members to sign this commitment to ask colleagues to sign their strike pledge and email the administration and demand a fair contract now.

Final Offers (view side-by-side version here):

AAUP Final Offer:

Layoffs
Workload of laid off members - if a member is laid off, their workload cannot be distributed to other employees or contractors

Recall - After a member is laid off, if PSU creates a position that is responsible for the same duties as the laid-off member’s former position, or if such a vacancy is recruited for, the laid-off member shall be recalled to that position.

Shared governance
Administration must engage in shared governance process prior to laying off members, when layoffs are based on changes to curriculum or program needs

Economics
COLA - 5.75% in year 1, remaining years COLA determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), minimum of 1.75% and a maximum of 3.5%

Compression, Inversion & Equity (CIE) - $455,000 annually for TT, $225,000 for NTTF, $225,000 for APs

AP Reassignment Salary Increase - $2,619 for 9-month employees and $3,188 for 12-month employees in Year 2, increased by COLA rate in remaining years

AP Advancement - APs receive $800 every year if they receive an evaluation rating of satisfactory or bette

PSU Administration Final Offer:

Layoffs
Workload of laid off members - current language, administration is arguably free to give workload to other faculty members, adjuncts or contractors

Recall - Current language, in order to be recalled, same position must be created and administration must reverse the previous layoff decision.

Shared governance
Administration currently believes that no shared governance must be engaged in when laying members off due to change in curriculum or program needs.

Economics
COLA - 3.25 in year 1, CPI in remaining three years, minimum of 1.75%, maximum of 3.5%. One-time $500 payment upon ratification.

CIE - $445,000 annually for TT, $225,000 for NTTF, $225,000 for APs

AP Reassignment - $2,477 for 9-month employees and $3,015 for 12-month employees in Year 2, increased by COLA rate in remaining years

AP Advancement - APs receive $1,800 every four years, if they receive an evaluation rating of satisfactory or better