Membership message
May 21, 2014
BREAKING NEWS:
Interim bargaining for Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) is now scheduled for Friday, May 30 at 9:00 a.m.!!!!! Please be in touch with Leanne Serbulo, VP of Collective Bargaining, if you have any questions.
Summer Contracts:
I’ll just get right to it. Summer contracts are blowing up all over our campus. If you haven’t heard about this yet, you will. As you know, many of our colleagues have separate contracts for summer work and they usually receive those contracts about this time of year. I am hearing that contracts for summer teaching are offering considerably less money than last year…sometimes up to 30% less. Here we go again.
I have asked permission from Sam Gioia, School of Social Work, to share his words with you about this. Sam wrote a letter to colleagues in UNST and CLAS on May 16:
“Summer contracts are considered to be separate contracts by mutual agreement not covered by the salary scales in the CBA. Our bargaining team raised this as a central concern every session in negotiating for our last CBA but Admin refused to even talk about it. In the final negotiations with a strike pending we raised it again and Admin claimed they had never seen this issue from us before, that summer term for this year was already budgeted, and they would not discuss this 'new' issue.
The explanation for the salary reductions that I have received is that since Summer term is now considered part of the regular academic year departments now have to pay "in-directs" or administrative and other costs that they have not had to pay previously. Different departments are handing the new costs differently. They are not supposed to reduce courses or student SCH but some are doing this anyway. Even accounting does not like changing the existing salary rates that we have had previously so some departments are keeping the historic rates for us while simply reducing the FTE we are paid for the same full-time work. So don't be surprised if your summer contract reflects you working less than full-time even though you are.
As I previously expressed we have a range of options right now. There seems to be little support for the most aggressive option, refusing to sign our summer contracts or threatening to not sign them. AAUP is considering an information table for the 5/27 budget forum to publicize this 'sneaky pay cut'. They are also encouraging us to show up in force in our red T-Shirts and lanyards to ask questions about this at the forum. There is the possibility of a letter from AAUP complaining about these salary cutbacks. As we plan for our bargaining position in the next CBA this loophole will be a central concern.”
Thanks, Sam!
Please be in touch with me, your Unit Rep, and/or Executive Council members to let us know what is happening in your departments about summer contracts.
2014-2015 Executive Council Members
Pam Miller
President
Social Work
725-5010
millerp@pdx.edu
Leanne Serbulo
Vice President of Collective Bargaining
University Studies
serbulo@pdx.edu
José Padin
Vice President for Grievances & Academic Freedom
Sociology
725-8504
padinj@pdx.edu
Eva Núñez
Treasurer
World Languages and Literatures
725-8785
enunez@pdx.edu
Ted Donlan
Secretary
School of Social Work
725-8977
donlan@pdx.edu
Michael Clark
Councilor
MCECS Dean Maseeh College
725-2417
mrclark@pdx.edu
Nancy Eichsteadt
Councilor
Education- CEED
725-5577
neichste@pdx.edu
Sam Gioia
Councilor
School of Social Work
725-8470
gioia@pdx.edu
Alexander Jokic
Councilor
Philosophy
725-3503
d8aj@pdx.edu
Karen Kennedy
Councilor
Undergraduate Advising & Support Center
725-8991
klkenned@pdx.edu
Patricia Schechter
Councilor
History
725-3007
schechterp@pdx.edu
Friedrich Schuler
Councilor
History
725-3696
schulerf@pdx.edu
Mary King
Immediate Past President
Economics
725-3940
kingm@pdx.edu
Staff
Phil Lesch
Executive Director
(503)-343-6082
phil@psuaaup.net
Emily Wiant
Office Assistant
(503)-725-4414
emily@psuaaup.net
We highly encourage members to turn out for the Administration’s Budget Forum on Tuesday, May 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Smith Center Ballroom. Summer contracts must be front and center!
The most effective option might be to refuse to sign the summer contracts, as Sam suggested, and have a real show down over summer classes. We need to work together on this! AAUP will have a table at the Budget Forum so come early and stop by to fill us in with your news and updates about summer contracts.
Be sure and wear your t-shirts and lanyards to this meeting. Have questions ready for administration about this “sneaky pay cut.”
More to come soon.
Thank you.
Pam Miller