From an email sent from Kye Carbone to the membership, November 29, 2007
Dear UFCT Member:
This is the second in a series of emails to UFCT members regarding our recently concluded contract negotiations. Hopefully, these emails will serve to explain in more detail the "how" and "why" of negotiations. Once a 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MOU) is vetted by the negotiating team and signed, copies will be distributed to all voting members of the UFCT. At that time, a meeting will be called wherein the MOU will be reviewed and discussed. Following this review a ratification ballot will be sent to all dues paying members of the Union. A simple majority of votes cast in the affirmative is needed for ratification.
Today's email is specifically related to newly negotiated minimums for all bargaining unit members, full-time and part-time, union member and non-member (the UFCT negotiates for everyone!) Keep in mind; that at a minimum, one will at leastreceive 3% per year for the life of this four-year contract. Which is to say, everyone gets something. However, depending on where you are in the faculty schema as determined by your rank, status and years served you might be receiving much more- a percentage higher than 3%. Appropriately, many will receive upwards of 10% and 15% as based on an earned promotion in rank and one's "years of service." Every bargaining unit member shall receive the higher of: (1) the annual percentage increase *or* (2) the applicable minimum.
Context
It is very difficult to express in words what happens in a negotiation; a context in which many issues are operating simultaneously. Separating-out one issue from another is challenging as each invariably dovetails into the other. As example, thethree major "economic" items in negotiations were (as always): (1) salaries, (2) medical and (3) pension costs, except that in this round of negotiations the UFCT demanded that such economic issues be addressed for all faculty, not just full-time and CCE bargaining unit members.
Of the three, salaries are always addressed last. So, if you achieve say, medical benefits for a contingent of the bargaining unit that has heretofore been uninsured and miraculously the Administration commits to a 50% contribution, is not the Unionforced into having to determine what this will actually cost, as well as assess the implications of such costs on pension and salary expenditures? The answer is yes, and in a nutshell, this is why we had to achieve a bit less for the overall redress of part-time rates, as the costs associated with covering 100, 200, 300 or 400 adjuncts is quite frankly, astronomical! Again, in confronting this kind of allocation, does the Union then retreat, say we aren't really serious about getting medical for uninsured adjuncts; that one of the chief demands of the Union for many a contract was just posturing on our part? I don't think so, as that would be antithetical to what an inclusive, unified union does in negotiations. We should all agree that a bedrock tenet of collective bargaining is that all boats [or is it ships?] be lifted.
Minimums That Matter
It was not until the just expired 2003-2007 Collective Bargaining Agreement that salary minimums for the full-time faculty and contact hourly rates for the part-time faculty were actually raised in any significant way. Due to a history of stagnation in the raising of minimums many a faculty member in years past applying for promotion (a change in academic rank) saw very little (if anything at all) difference in their salary or rate upon promotion as almost all faculty members were just above what were exceedingly low minimums. However, that changed in a significant way by the re-structuring that took place in our last contract. As such, this new structure has afforded significant raises to a large number of the faculty as based on such rightfully earned promotions in rank and one's years of service. Moreover, many endemic inequities were finally being addressed.
In this round, the UFCT went into negotiations simply wishing to continue the progress made, and capitalize on the re-structuring breakthrough of the last contract. Remember, the UFCT is extremely rare in that all of its bargaining unit members (the full-time and regular part-time faculty and our professional librarians) shall have academic rank: Instructor, Assistant, Associate and Professor. As such, all applicable salary/rate minimums are thus tied to these four ranks which include now (as of the last contract) additional minimums in five-year increments as based on years served at the two highest ranks: Associate and Professor.
FT Minimums
Effectively, the Union's original demand was that $10,000 be added to each cell or minima. We were able to get $8,000. Therefore, for the next contract, the following shall be the new applicable minimums for the full-time faculty:
[The 2003-2007 MIN is to the left, the new MIN in bold on the right]
Instructor: $35,000 [+ $8,000 =] $43,000
Assistant: $40,000 [+ $8,000 =] $48,000
Associate:
Up to 5 yrs. $47,500 [+ $8,000 =] $55,500
6 to 10 yrs. $50,000 [+ $8,000 =] $58,000
11 to 15 yrs. $52,500 [+ $8,000 =] $60,500
16 to 20 yrs. $55,000 [+ $8,000 =] $63,000
21 to 25 yrs. $57,500 [+ $8,000 =] $65,500
26+ yrs. $60,000 [+ $8,000 =] $68,000
Professor:
Up to 5 yrs. $52,000 [+ $8,000 =] $60,000
6 to 10 yrs. $55,500 [+ $8,000 =] $63,500
11 to 15 yrs. $59,000 [+ $8,000 =] $67,000
16 to 20 yrs. $62,500 [+ $8,000 =] $70,500
21 to 25 yrs. $66,000 [+ $8,000 =] $74,000
26+ yrs. $69,500 [+ $8,000 =] $77,500
How the structure works…
EXAMPLES:
(1) A FT Associate in their 6th year (as full-time) currently making $50,000, will have their salary adjusted to $58,000, the applicable minimum (@ 6-10 yrs.) "higher" than their present salary + 3% ($51,500). This faculty member receives a 16% raise.
(2) A FT Professor in their 12th year (as full-time) currently making $59,200, will have their salary adjusted to $67,000, the applicable minimum (@ 11-15 yrs.) "higher" than their present salary + 3% ($60,976). This faculty member receives a 13.17% raise.
(3) A FT Assistant in their 3rd year (as full-time) currently making $55,400, will have their salary adjusted to $57,062, their present salary + 3% "higher" than the applicable minimum (@ the Assistant level: $48,000). This faculty member receives a 3% raise.
PT Minimums
Effectively, the Union's original demand was that $200.00 be added to each cell or minima. We were able to get $100.00. (Everyone needs to know that the Administration dug-in after their commitment to provide medical to adjuncts and insisted that each
rate only be increased by $50.00 with NO PERCENTAGE INCREASE! The effect of this proposal would have been that anyone with a CHR higher than the applicable minimum [there are many of us] would be granted: 0%, 0%, 0%, 0% for the life of the contract! Wouldn't that have been good news?) Therefore, for the next contract, the following shall be the new applicable minimums for the part-time faculty:
[The 2003-2007 MIN is to the left, the new MIN in bold on the right]
Instructor: $850 [+ 100 =] $950
Assistant: $1,000 [+ $100 =] $1,100
Associate:
Up to 5 yrs. $1,150 [+ $100 =] $1,250
6 to 10 yrs. $1,200 [+ $100 =] $1,300
11 to 15 yrs. $1,250 [+ $100 =] $1,350
16 to 20 yrs. $1,300 [+ $100 =] $1,400
21 to 25 yrs. $1,350 [+ $100 =] $1,450
26+ yrs. $1,400 [+ $100 =] $1,500
Professor:
Up to 5 yrs. $1,300 [+ $100 =] $1,400
6 to 10 yrs. $1,375 [+ $100 =] $1,475
11 to 15 yrs. $1,450 [+ $100 =] $1,550
16 to 20 yrs. $1,525 [+ $100 =] $1,625
21 to 25 yrs. $1,600 [+ $100 =] $1,700
26+ yrs. $1,675 [+ $100 =] $1,775
How this structure works…
EXAMPLES:
(1) A PT Associate just promoted to Professor currently in their 16th year (as part-time) with a CHR of: $1,425, will have their rate adjusted to $1,625, the applicable minimum (@ 16-20 yrs.) "higher" than their present CHR + 3% ($1,467.75). This faculty member receives a 14.03% raise.
(2) A PT Associate in their 10th year (as part-time) with a CHR of: $1,200 will go into their 11th year with a CHR of: $1,350 this new applicable minimum (@ 11-15 yrs.) "higher" than their present CHR + 3% ($1,236). This faculty member receives a 12.5% raise.
(3) Assistant in their 20th year (as part-time) with a CHR of: $1,280 will receive no more than 3% ($1,318.40). However, should they apply for a promotion to Associate (effective their 21st year) they would receive a 9.98% increase in their CHR ($1,450 the applicable minimum for Associate @ 21-25).
To be continued…
-Kye