Surprise! Admin Shows Up, but Refuses to Bargain

4/9/2024

Dear FSU Members,

We had a fantastic bargaining session yesterday. Over 20 of our members were present as part of our expanded bargaining team and we were pleasantly surprised to see that the Administration’s bargaining team showed up after they said they would not be coming because a few of our members had to be on Zoom.

Unfortunately, the administration is still refusing to bargain over the issues and is continuing to waste time insisting that no one can ever be on Zoom.

The FSU has already agreed to bargain on campus and committed our team to making every effort to be there in-person. But some of our members for varied and entirely legitimate reasons may be unable to attend in-person and should be able to access the meeting with Zoom. This is 2024, not 2019, and quite frankly, we’re not asking for a lot. Every day on campus we use Zoom to increase participation, accessibility, and inclusion, and that’s all we want. Nevertheless, we argued with the admin team for 90 minutes about this, wasting valuable time that should be spent bargaining over substantive issues. The FSU bargaining team is ready and eager to negotiate.

What can you do to?

Join the Contract Action Team (CAT). The CAT’s primary role is to strategize and organize. The next CAT meeting is on Friday at 1pm on Zoom. Email fsu.bargaining@umb.edu if you’d like to join in the fun.
Email the admin bargaining team directly and tell them to “Let Zoom in the Room.” You’ll see a template and their email addresses below.

Thanks for all your support,

The FSU Core Bargaining Team

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Template email to Admin bargaining team:

Dear Administrative Bargaining Team,

The FSU is ready to begin bargaining. It is ridiculous that you are refusing to bargain because a few members need to be on Zoom. Please bargain now.

Sincerely,

Send the above to the following members of the Administrative Bargaining Team:

Sophie Coddington (Sophie.Coddington@umb.edu)

Mickey Gallagher (Mickey.Gallagher@umb.edu)

Adugna Lemi (Adugna.Lemi@umb.edu)

Denise McNair (Denise.McNair@umb.edu)