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Bargaining Update – Roadblocks from Administration

5/11/2020

Members,

We write with an update on bargaining, which has recently encountered a number of roadblocks from the Administration.

First, Administration has refused to sign the tentative agreement we reached with them on impact bargaining for Spring 2020.  

  • Just a reminder: impact bargaining is when the FSU meets with Administration to negotiate an agreement in face of some external “impact” to the collective bargaining agreement. In this case, the impact was the COVID-19 pandemic and the move to remote learning.
  • The Core Bargaining Team (CBT) indicated our willingness to sign this agreement on April 30, and came to a bargaining meeting on May 8 ready to sign.  
  • At that meeting, Administration not only added new provisions to the agreement but also stated that, in their view, it held good for Summer 20 and Fall 20, despite the fact that the agreement specifies in multiple places that it pertains solely to Spring 20.

Second, Administration is refusing to constitute the faculty Task Force we requested for Administration to consult with as they plan for the fall semester.

  • Creation of the Task Force is mandated in the Spring 20 impact bargaining agreement, which Administration is now refusing to sign.

Third, Administration is refusing to engage in expanded bargaining.

  • Just as a reminder, the FSU enacted a new policy in May 2019 declaring that the CBT “will by default allow all FSU members to attend all main- and side-table bargaining sessions...All negotiations should take place at the bargaining table in front of FSU members.”   
  • The FSU communicated this new policy to Administration and has been discussing it with both Administration and FSU membership since it was decided.  In other words, the policy is not new.
  • Moreover, expanded bargaining is 100% legal and well within permissible bargaining rules and procedures.  
  • The CBT proposed a non-disruptive means of holding expanded bargaining--via a Zoom webinar wherein all participants would be known and visible, but not able to speak--but this was rejected.  
  • Administration refused to state in what form or capacity it would allow for or participate in expanded bargaining.

The CBT continues to contemplate our options going forward in the face of confusing recalcitrance on the part of Administration to work constructively with us.  We welcome any ideas, insights, or suggestions you may have:  you are part of this bargaining team also!

The next bargaining session is May 20th.

Sincerely, and in solidarity,

Core Bargaining Team

Caroline Coscia, Senior Lecturer II, Political Science, FSU Vice President

Katie D’Urso, MTA Field Representative

Maria Mellone, Associate Lecturer, Mathematics

Alex Mueller, Associate Professor, English

Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Membership Coordinator

Jason Rodriquez, Associate Professor, Sociology

Heike Schotten, Associate Professor, Political Science

Steve Striffler, Director of the Labor Resource Center and Professor, Anthropology

Tony Vandermeer, Senior Lecturer II, Africana Studies

For information on the FSU, links to our contract and bargaining updates, and a calendar of events, see the FSU webpage

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