Faculty Alliance of Miami Wins First Contract

When the faculty and librarians of the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM) at Miami University of Ohio started negotiating their first union contract in fall 2023, they knew that the administration would try to obstruct negotiations, much as it had tried to thwart their union drive. To meet this challenge, FAM embraced an open bargaining strategy that used the one lever of power they had over the administration: strength in numbers.

In negotiations, members packed the room to observe and hear the administration’s proposals, and after each session, members kept the community informed with online bargaining updates and seriously funny memes. When the administration delayed or refused to engage with proposals, members delivered testimony at meetings of the governing board and sent board members holiday cards about what a fair contract means. They took creative risks, holding a practice picket, hand-delivering an open letter to a dean, and even projecting a union message on the lawn of the president’s university-provided residence. FAM refused to let the administration isolate faculty and librarians from the negotiation of their own union contract and instead stuck together to create a transparent process in which everyone could participate.

Finally, after 545 days of tough negotiations, FAM won its first three-year contract. The results are inspiring: annual 3 percent salary increases, raised salary floors, and increases for promotion; retirement and health-care benefits preserved at current levels, with a cap on premium increases; codification of academic freedom rights to speak out as citizens and raise relevant controversial subjects in the classroom; improved promotion and evaluation procedures (including a policy preventing improper use of student evaluations); better job security for non-tenure-track faculty through presumptive renewal; clear disciplinary and grievance procedures for all; and, for librarians, a forty-hour workweek.