United Faculty of Florida
Florida International University
July 3, 2008
Dear Bargaining Unit Members,
I want to keep you informed on two situations we are facing this summer --
faculty layoffs, and the status of the contract and ongoing bargaining.
Layoffs
Based on the BOT’s recent decision to close a number of programs, we
anticipate that the administration may soon begin to implement layoffs in
some academic units. Thus, it is important for all faculty to understand
the process as it is articulated in the contract.
Article 8 (a) states that the FIU Administration must notify UFF-FIU at
least 30 days prior to implementing any layoffs, and the UFF may exercise
its right to meet with the President (or designee) to discuss impending
layoffs. Implementation is the delivery of the formal written layoff
notice to an employee.
Article 8.4 details the amount of notice to be given and the form that the
formal layoff notice must take. Specifically, employees with three or
more years of continuous service shall be provided at least 1 year’s
notice prior to being laid off. Those with less than 3 years shall be
provided with at least 6 months notice. Formal written notice of layoff
is to be sent certified mail, return receipt requested, or delivered in
person with written documentation of receipt obtained. The notice must
include: effective date of layoff, reason for layoff; a statement of
recall rights; a statement of appeal/grievance rights and applicable
deadlines for filing; a statement that the employee will receive the FIU
Vacancy Listing until the recall period ends or re-employment offer is
refused; and a statement that the employee is eligible for consideration
for retraining under the provisions of the Collective Bargaining
Agreement for a period of two years following layoff.
Article 8.2 addresses the order of reduction due to layoff. Specifically,
no tenured employee shall be laid off if there are non-tenured faculty in
the layoff unit and no non-tenured faculty with more than 5 years of
continuous service will be laid off if there are non-tenured faculty with
less than 5 years of service. Article 8 also delineates the efforts the
University must make to find alternate employment for those laid off and
the recall rights that laid off employees have.
The UFF has established a ~Layoff Response Team~ to address all faculty
concerns as they arise. Please call our office (305-348-3212) and leave
your contact information and your call will be returned by a member of the
team within 24 hours. Any faculty member who receives a layoff
notification is encouraged to contact the UFF.
Bargaining
As you may recall our current contract expired on July 1st 2008. However,
until a new contract is bargained and ratified, the terms of the expired
contract will continue as status quo. All rights and benefits in place
under the expired contract will continue.
Since April, the UFF bargaining team has been engaged in negotiations
with the FIU administration on the terms of a new contract. The parties
have tentatively agreed to new language on parental leaves that specifies
and clarifies coverage of leave, while protecting the six month paid leave
bargained as part of the 2005- 2008 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The parties are also bargaining over a proposal to create a career path
for Instructors and Lecturers that would provide promotions and salary
increases similar to those now provided for librarians and tenure-earning
faculty. There is also a proposal under discussion to increase
compensation for supplemental summer assignments. In addition, UFF is
currently engaged in settlement talks following the administration’s
refusal to bargain over the impact of new research space allocation
policies adopted in January. We hope to reach a settlement soon that will
allow us to proceed with negotiations over lab space as part of full book
bargaining.
In addition to these issues, the parties are still engaged in bargaining
over salary increases for 2007 – 2008. UFF’s latest 2007 – 2008 salary
proposal calls for a 2% across-the-board increase, retroactive to December
28, 2007. The administration’s proposal would provide absolutely no
general salary increase for 2007 – 2008, but only discretionary authority
for administrators to reward select faculty with raises and special
awards. UFF cannot agree to discretionary authority that would allow the
administration to reward only a few faculty and librarians of their
choosing, while expecting the majority of our bargaining unit to accept
significant cuts in real wages, when inflation is taken into account.
For 2008 – 2009, UFF has proposed an additional 2% across-the-board
increase, effective at the beginning of the 2008-2009 Academic Year. The
administration’s latest salary proposal would match UFF’s demand for a 2
% across-the-board increase in 2008 – 2009, but only if UFF agreed to a
four-year salary deal that would provide no across the board raise for
2007 – 2008; 2% ATB in 2008 – 2009; 1% ATB and 1% merit in 2009-2010; and
2% merit (no ATB) in 2010-2011. In addition, the administration demands
the right to distribute up to 1% of the payroll each year in special
discretionary raises and awards to selected faculty, even in years when
no across-the-board increase is proposed for other employees.
While UFF appreciates the administration’s willingness to offer some level
of salary increase over the next three years, the current offer is not
sufficient. We have experienced a high rate of inflation in this market
over the past year (South Florida continues to experience cost of living
increases almost double those of the national average). Many economists
predict that inflation will worsen in the months to come, UFF cannot agree
to lock faculty and librarians into a long-term salary deal at rates that
would not even begin to keep employees even with increases in the cost of
living.
Moreover, UFF is unwilling to agree to discretionary authority for the
administration to give raises to a select few while the rest of the
faculty and librarians are expected to accept significant cuts in real
wages, based on cost of living increases in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale.
The parties are continuing to discuss all these issues, with our next
bargaining session scheduled for Thursday, July 10th. It is UFF’s hope
that we can reach tentative agreement on a reasonable salary package for
both 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 and complete bargaining on the full new
three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement in time for a ratification vote
before the end of summer.
Yours in solidarity,
Leslie
Leslie Frazier, Chapter President
United Faculty of Florida
Florida International University |
