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Using Collective Bargaining

1. We have been convinced the budget deficit does require cuts somewhere, but what are some alternatives to eliminating faculty lines?

The single most important point is not to agree to givebacks without offsetting gains. If the administration claims cuts are required, none should be granted without comparable gains in long-term and non-compensatory clauses. Due to the importance of job security for a stable faculty and for academic freedom, preserving tenured positions and positions with long term security should be a first priority. Even in times of bad budgets and compromises regarding instructional budgets, the long-term effects can be minimized, and there are gains that can be made. Any hiring freezes, layoffs, and furloughs should be temporary and as short as can be negotiated, and they should include ending dates for the period of cuts and starting dates for restoration requirements.

If you are agreeing to compensation cuts and reductions in the instructional budget, demand no-cost/low-cost gains. These may include adding or strengthening the following:

  1. academic freedom language in the bargaining agreement;
  2. due-process protections for all faculty;
  3. job security for incumbent contingent faculty;
  4. grievance and arbitration processes;
  5. AAUP inclusion in orientations for new faculty and contingent faculty;
  6. payroll deduction for union dues and fair share fees;
  7. eligibility for union buyout of reassigned time;
  8. chapter office space on campus;
  9. access for the union and the senate to timely institutional information presently denied (e.g., budget information, administrative salary data, foundation and auxiliary services budgets, data on unemployment costs for terminated or non-rehired faculty, and contact information for faculty);
  10. guaranteed speaking time for union and senate leaders at governing board meetings;
  11. release time for all employees to attend union and senate meetings;
  12. extending the duration of the collective-bargaining agreement, and/or negotiating a better bargaining cycle;
  13. regularized schedules for meetings between campus unions and administration/human relations; and
  14. commitments for management to work cooperatively with unions in campaigns to improve institutional budgets.

2. What steps should a collective bargaining chapter take to prepare for anticipated or proposed reductions of faculty and other academic professionals in the bargaining unit?

First, if your contract presently is being renegotiated or will soon be, scrutinize the existing retrenchment article with great care. Much of what is most desirable for a sound retrenchment policy and procedure is found in regulation 4c of the AAUP's Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Obviously, especially in hard times, the administration will resist language that is strong from the union perspective. In constructing a contract campaign, this issue, so timely and so dramatic, can be the pivotal issue by which to galvanize and energize the faculty.

Second, if you are not now or soon to be in negotiations, the union should form a working group to review and analyze the existing language and prepare a report identifying ways the union leadership can ready itself to deal with and respond to the administration and its proposals. Frequently, the retrenchment article in a given contract has remained untouched and unnoticed for years because, happily, its application has never been an issue. To the extent that any bargaining history of the retrenchment article can be found—old negotiations files or “old” negotiators—it should be surveyed for possible relevance to prepare for potential disputes about ambiguous or unclear language in the article.

3. Where can I find examples of contract language that address financial crises and financial exigency?

The AAUP maintains a password-protected contract database of AAUP CB chapters’ collective bargaining agreements and AAUP policy statements. The database is a good resource for learning more about how faculty at other institutions have negotiated a variety of issues in their own collective bargaining agreements. For more information or to request access to the database, please e-mail [email protected].