Yesterday, July 22, your Bargaining Team was at the table from 9am-4pm.
Once again, there was a great turnout — upwards of 40 members wearing AAUP shirts, buttons, and lanyards!
Your Collective Bargaining Team wants you to know that they feel very supported and that your presence at bargaining is a powerful, visible reminder to the administration that faculty and Academic Professionals are a collective force and that we are serious about a fair and equitable contract. Thanks to all who showed up!
A First Win for Researchers
PSU-AAUP came to a tentative agreement with the University that addresses an important need of researchers across campus.
This agreement will accommodate the need for researchers to access buildings on campus during university closures. Historically, it has been university policy that non-essential personnel are not permitted on campus during university closures. Federal regulations, however, require daily monitoring of all research animals, and a variety of research projects also require daily monitoring. Faculty and staff have been put in the uncomfortable position of violating university policy in order to check on their research projects. The new agreement is a small change in the language of Article 26 in our contract, which now recognizes the need for researchers to monitor their projects regardless of the weather; recognizes the importance of research projects to the academic success of faculty and staff at PSU; and will help align university policy and practice with federal regulations and the reality of conducting research.
Next Up, A Big Lift for Academic Professionals
Towards the end of the day, your PSU-AAUP team made a presentation that sets the stage for the next matter of bargaining: a process to transition Academic Professionals into a new system of job families (and levels within those families). Our aims are to persuade PSU to join us in creating:
- A fair, transparent, and accountable process to transition APs into new job families.
- A process that has significant input from Academic Professionals
- Pathways for career promotions
The next scheduled days for bargaining will be on August 26 and August 27.
It will be terrific to see a very large number of Academic Professionals and Teaching/Research Faculty come to observe bargaining in Urban Center 710 on one or both of those days to show their support for our AP colleagues. These colleagues make the University run and the University needs to reward their professionalism and contributions to our students’ successes. When we stand for the career advancement opportunities for APs, we are standing for the career advancement of all!
Mark your calendars! Details to follow.
David Hansen (SBA), VP for Collective Bargaining
Jennifer Kerns (History), VP for Membership and Organizing
José Padín (Sociology), President