|
Your Participation Translates Into Movement at the Table:
Yesterday we had the largest member participation so far this year, both in person and online, and we saw real movement on improved tuition benefits and layoff protections. Yesterday 86 members attended, 62 online, and 24 attended in person which is the most impactful way of showing up in terms of increasing our bargaining power. Help us maintain our momentum by RSVPing to our next bargaining session on August 22nd, 8:30 am-4:30 pm in RMNC 316, and recruiting your departmental colleagues to do the same.
Contract campaign calendar:
At the outset of yesterday’s bargaining, we reviewed the opened articles of our contract in order to sequence the subjects of negotiation for our bargaining timeline, which under Oregon labor law must be at least 150 days and will take us almost to the expiration date of contract in late November. We also identified which articles have an economic element, as they are treated differently than topics that do not have an inherent financial element.
Strengthening Tuition Benefits and Layoff Protections:
After we worked through that, we turned to the staff fee privilege policy, which grants AAUP-represented members and their dependents reduced tuition benefits at PSU and other Oregon Public Universities. The policy, which is the subject of differing interpretations by the two bargaining teams, can be found here.
One issue is whether laid-off members are eligible for this benefit. This is critical, as Administration has signaled there will be cuts in the coming months, and this could be a significant benefit for laid-off employees who need to develop new skills or whose dependents currently benefit from reduced tuition. We believe that when the policy is read in conjunction with the contract, members on a recall list are eligible for this benefit under the current policy. The administration has disagreed with this view.
We also believe the benefit covers those who are on protected leave, like family or medical leave, and should be revised to cover those on variable FTE appointments when their employment dips below 0.5 FTE due to fluctuation in funding streams.
Both teams listed a variety of possible options that might resolve the issue. Administration felt that they needed more data before committing to some of the options that were favored by the AAUP team. As the process of Interest Based Bargaining played out, the AAUP team floated a “trial balloon” combining several options in an attempt to address interests from both teams. Agreement was not reached, but it appeared to get us closer to resolution.
Equitable Release Time to Build the Union:
The teams then pivoted to discussing provisions in the contract that allow PSU-AAUP members to receive course releases or overload payments for time spent performing work on behalf of our union. This is an issue because faculty and APs have different job descriptions; course releases are not suitable for those who don’t teach and service releases will not free up the same amount of time for union work for those not expected to perform as much service. The AAUP team wants to improve these provisions and ensure that they are applied consistently so that everyone in the bargaining unit has an opportunity to serve in leadership roles.
Help continue to win the conditions we deserve by RSVPing and bringing your coworkers to our next bargaining session on August 22nd, 8:30 am-4:30 pm in RMNC 316!
|
