Massive practice pickets win movement at table

• Due to the number of members who attended our first two practice pickets we reached agreement on language around researcher bridge funding and the NTTF Post-Continuous Appointment Review (PCAR) process. When finalized, bridge funding will give job stability to NTT research faculty who bring in large amounts of grant funding but lack the basic job stability we all deserve. It should be noted that the teams have not yet reached agreement on the dollar figures in the bridge funding language, as that will be discussed in the economics portion of bargaining later this month.

• Strong member engagement also helped secure an agreement on transferring a paid leave memorandum of agreement (MOA) into the contract as well. Last year we negotiated an MOA regarding the Paid Leave Oregon benefit, also known as Paid Family & Medical Leave, or PFML. Normally, MOAs expire at the same time as the contract and become extinct unless renewed or folded into the main body of the contract. In this case, the MOA will become part of the contract, with a few clarifications.

Pay increases for academic professionals (APs)
Currently, APs get an increase of $1,600 every four years, if they have satisfactory evaluations. Since most APs are hired at the low end of the pay range, the once-every-four-year increases make it basically impossible for an AP to ever reach the top of the range, no matter how long they work at PSU. This, combined with a pay scale that is low compared to other institutions, goes a long way in explaining why there is so much turnover at PSU. The union team is advocating for increases that occur every two years. The administration has floated the idea of every three years. 

Bilingual Pay
For all the administrations’ public-facing messaging about wanting to become an HSI and AANAPISI serving institution, the administration has been pushing back at the bargaining table about fairly compensating the work to make that transition happen.  Currently, the administration wants to limit the second language pay to those whose position description requires a second language. The reality is we have members who regularly use their language skills on the job, but because their job description says the language skill is only “preferred,” they don’t get compensated. The union’s position is that any employee who is expected to use a second language should be paid for it. The administration wants to limit bilingual pay to a lump sum instead of a percentage pay increase like PSU classified staff, PCC academic professionals, and the city of Portland pay. This would mean members' pay increases would get eroded by inflation over time, falling further behind with a flat fee, whereas a percent pay increase helps workers keep up with cost of living increases.

Layoff Protections
The union team reiterated the need for better notice requirements for tenure track, non-tenure track faculty (NTTF), and academic professionals when there will be layoffs. We believe there should be a one-year notice period for all PSU-AAUP members, regardless of whether the layoffs are due to curricular changes, “serious distortion,” or financial exigency. 

Workload Protections
We traded proposals on workload, with much of the difference coming down to what factors would be listed as indicators of excessive workload. The union team prefers more concrete, measurable factors, while the administration team favors indicators that we believe are less specific and so more difficult to demonstrate. We also believe that if a member cannot satisfactorily resolve workload problems with their manager, they should be able to pursue the grievance process. 

There is currently language in the contract to help APs deal with that, but there is no definition for excessive workload for them, and no language at all for faculty. The union team has come up with language that would define it, for both faculty and staff, and we had a lot of discussion about the factors that indicate excessive workload. The definitions are a big sticking point as is the Admin team trying to strip the ability for APs to take workload grievances to arbitration, but we’ve made some progress. 

Workload abuse protections
Trial balloons have been exchanged on a subject for new language to create a respectful workplace. There have been many reports of managers verbally abusing their staff and acting unprofessionally. So far we have made very little progress on the subject so far, as the administration responded with a reiteration of existing policy. The union team believes those policies are very limited, and for the most part, simply restate the kinds of protections that already exist in state or Federal law. The administration also believes it is too difficult to judge disrespectful conduct because it can be subjective. However, the union team has but forward the idea of using the “reasonable person” standard, which is a widely accepted legal standard for an objective viewpoint.   

Remote Work
The union team seeks to expand the availability of remote work, but the administration has shown very little willingness to move on this. They also want to provide just 7 days notice when a remote agreement is going to end. The union team has asked for 30 days notice, as we know our members often need more lead time to change their childcare arrangements and work out other family responsibilities. 

AP pay scale, vacation accruals, and overtime
We also began discussing issues that are vital to APs, including compensation advancement, vacation accruals, and overtime. On January 1 of next year, some APs will become eligible for overtime, based on the Department of Labor’s new regulations. We introduced a trial balloon that would create guidelines for the calculation and distribution of overtime.